Hidden Angel
by starlight1395
Summary: Kev wasn't bullied. They simply used forced to get him to help them with school work. When teachers start noticing, Kev's anxiety gets worse, and he doesn't notice the downward spiral he's heading into. Edd is considered scary, aloof and stand offish, and just happens to be in the right place at the right times. Rev!Kevedd. Contains self-harm, bullying and other triggering subjects
1. Chapter 1

**Mentions of bullying and anxiety attacks.**

"Haha dork!" He felt someone shove into his shoulder and he ducked his head down, hoping they would just leave him alone.

Of course they didn't

"Hey dork I'm talking to you!" Kev was shoved fully against the locker. Clutching his biology book to his chest, he prayed they would leave soon.

"Hey Tony. W-what can I do for you?" He tried to keep his voice steady.

"Hmm, well… I have an English essay due on Friday, and I'm just no good at creative writing. I was hoping" _Read 'I'm going to force you'_ thought Kev, "You would write it for me. I'll reward you handsomely." He rose one blonde eyebrow and Kev shrunk.

"Tony, you've never paid me back for the things I've done for you before…" The soccer player slammed a fist on the locker above the trembling ginger's head.

"Don't ask any more questions and I'll give you a little bonus."

"O-okay Tony. Do you have a hand out with the specifications on it?"

"Yeah. I'll get someone to get it to you." He slammed his on the locker a second time, making the smaller boy jump again.

"Is there an issue here?" A dark voice came from their left. A tall, lanky student was leaning on the lockers not ten feet from the two. His dark hair was covered by a beat up old beanie and his jacket sleeves were rolled up to his elbows.

Kev saw the emotions change in Tony's eyes and sighed inaudibly as the soccer player took a miniscule step back.

"No issue here Edd. Just talking to my dear friend Kev here. He's going to help me on my English paper. No need to get your panties in a twist dude." Edd pushed himself off the lockers and took three long, languid steps towards them.

"That's good to hear Anthony. I would truly hate if I had to… interfere." A dangerous glint in his eye made the soccer player take another step back.

"I'm outta here. Look out for someone with the paper, Dork. And don't forget, its due Friday." He turned on his heel and stalked off in the opposite direction.

"Are you unharmed?" Kev whirled his head from the direction the blonde stalked off in to look at Edd.

"Y-yeah I'm fine. He must have been in a good mood." Kev laughed nervously and rubbed the back of his head, shuffling his Knowledge Bowl cap.

"He does this often?" Edd was leaning back on the locker, his hands shoved deep in the pockets of his dark jeans.

"I wouldn't say _often,_ but I guess it does happen occasionally." He subconsciously placed a hand to his right ribs, remembering the throbbing pain that had barely faded.

The sullen student next to Kev was silent for a moment as the red head turned to open his locker. Shuffling through his notebooks, Kev almost missed what he said.

"If that happens again, wrap your torso. It supports the ribs and keeps them from getting jostled in everyday life." Kev almost hit his head on the top of his locker when he realized what Edd had said. He quickly turned to deny the claim, his glasses slipping off his nose, only to find Edd had already walked away, blending in with the sea of students.

Kev placed a hand back on his torso and sighed, not wanting to admit that Edd's advice was most definitely going to come in handy. He grabbed the right notebook and headed to his robotics class. He slipped in the doors just as the bell rang.

"Alright class, today I'm going to talk about the last project. I was really looking forward to seeing what you were going to come up with, but I was slightly disappointed with the end results. A lot of you seemed to have the same internal design to your project. I don't know how you did it, but it's like you worked together on them, or had someone else make it for you entirely."

Kev, sitting in the back of the class, didn't miss the pointed glances at him from certain students in the class. He was 'recruited' to help with some of their project.

Most of them just ask politely, because they had other tests to study for and such, but others used excessive force. Kev tried to make them look different, but apparently he didn't do a very good job disguising his work.

"Kevin Barr, could you stay after class?" Kev's attention suddenly snapped to the front of the room, and his face flushed bright red. He nodded and opened a notebook, pretending to take vigorous notes.

He missed his teacher's worried glance at his capped head before turning back to the white board and begin drawing some diagram.

* * *

'"Kevin, I'm worried about you." Class had passed without ant incident, and Kev was glad the teacher called him after the period ended because he couldn't be hassled after the lesson. He looked at his teacher and tried to keep his freckled face clear of emotion.

"There's nothing to be worried about." Kev gave a sweet smile and began inching towards the door.

"No, Kevin. I'm quite sure there is something to be worried about. I know your work, and I know you made all those projects. Normally, if a student did that they would get in a lot of trouble with the school, but I know you better than that. Now, if you don't want me to report this little project incident, you'll have to tell me what's going on."

Kev's already pale face drained of all color and his hands began to tremble slightly, He had worked so hard to keep this all hidden, especially from adults.

"T-they just asked for a little help." His voice cracked on 'help' and his teacher's look of determination hardened.

"Did any of them hurt you Kevin?" He asked it gently, but the slight student in front of him still flinched.

"O-of course not!" Kev didn't mean to raise his voice, but he was scared.

"Kevin, you can tell me. I'm here to help you, and if someone's been hurting you, I need to know immediately." As he spoke, the bell rang. Hearing the signal for the start of the next class, Kev grabbed his backpack and ran out the door calling a flippant 'don't worry' over his shoulder.

After a brief scolding for coming to class late, Kev took his seat in the back of his English class in the last open seat. He sat down and placed his head on the desk, trying to calm his heart and calm his breathing so he didn't pass out.

"Breath in for a four count, hold for a four count and release for an eight count." A husky voice quietly spoke into his ear. Lifting his head an inch above his arms, Kev made eye contact with Edd, green meeting slate grey.

Kev could feel his breathing pick back up again, and he could feel himself on the edge of hyperventilating.

"Kevin you must obey my command this instant." Kev felt a large hand on his back and he began counting the seconds.

 _One, two, three, four. Hold one, two, three, four Breath out one, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight._ He repeated this over and over, blocking out the drone of their teacher talking about the essay they should have read over the weekend.

Only after several repetitions of the breathing exercise did Kev realize there was still something warm resting on his back. Lifting his head again, he saw Edd was still watching him, a look of faint relief passing over his stoic features before returning back to its usual bored expression.

"You know Kevin, you are under no obligation to complete Anthony's English work." Kev signed and shook his head.

"I don't mind. I e-enjoy helping." My voice caught in my throat. It used to be that I enjoyed helping others with their work, then it became a matter of walking away a little tired and the work done or limping home with a new bruise.

"Do not think your lies are going to convince me Kevin. I know of your past with certain students." Edd leaned back in his chair, lifting two of the legs off the ground.

"Edd be careful! You could fall backwards and get hurt!" Kev's harsh whisper caused the intimidating boy to give an intimidating chuckle.

"Do not worry about me, dear Kevin. I would worry more about that." Before Kev could ask what Edd meant, something slapped onto his desk.

"I'm so sorry my class is so boring to you, Kevin. And I'm also sorry to have to keep you after school." She sighed. "What happened to you Kevin? You used to be a star pupil and now look at you. Walking into class late, sleeping during the discussion and talking? You're starting to worry me Kevin." Edd saw something change in the ginger's eyes. He saw the deadness change into something fiery, something fierce.

"There's nothing to worry about!" Kev didn't mean to snap at her, but his nerves were on edge after his almost anxiety attack. She looked taken aback and after a moment, she shook her head and walked away.

"Stay after school Kevin." Kev felt his eyes start to sting, but he simply nodded and placed his head back on his desk.

The bell signaling the end of the class was the only thing that got Kev to raise his head. Not the teacher calling his name, and not the slightly worried voice coming from beside him. He stood up, grabbed his bag, and ignored the effort Edd put out to grab his attention.

His last class was a study hall, so he went to the library and set up at his usual table in the most secluded corner of the large, busy room. For fifteen minutes he sat and worked on his homework, though halfhearted in his answers.

"Hey dork." A cold voice startled him out of his day-dreaming. He turned and saw a very stony looking Tony.

"Hey Tony. I'm sorry, I didn't get your paper yet, but I was working on some concept ideas for a creative writing piece." He took a step forward.

"I know you didn't get the paper, _nerd._ You didn't get the paper because the person who was supposed to give it to you is in the principal's office, along with everyone else who was doing my work for me." He leaned in close and was practically spitting in Kev's face.

"W-why are they in Principal Doug's office?" Kev was genuinely confused.

"Because apparently _someone_ got found out for doing all their robotics projects, and got them all in trouble for cheating." He leaned in even closer and sneered. "But I don't see you getting in any trouble, now do I?" Kev's heart skipped a beat. He knew where this was going.

"Tony please. I have detention after school and I can't go with bruises." He prayed that this would be able to keep the beating to a minimum.

"Oh don't worry. No one will find out, because I know exactly where to hit you." He closed the rest of the gap between Kev and himself.

The first punch knocked the air out of the smaller boy's chest, making his cough weakly. The second punch came right after the first, striking the same place on his torso as the first. His left hand shot out to grab Kev's upper arm, holding his upright so he couldn't curl in on himself and defend his chest.

It only took three more punches for Kev to hear a sickening crack. His whole body sagged, the fight leaving his body. Tony's fingers dug into his upper arm, but that pain didn't even pierce the veil of pain that was numbing his mind.

He heard the bell ring, and realized Tony had left him lying on the ground of the library with a piece of paper crumpled over his face. Gathering up is stuff, Kev took a deep breath and walked _very slowly_ to his English classroom, stopping at his locker to grab his jacket to hide the bruises on his upper arm first.

"Kevin, are you okay?" His English teacher opened the door just as Kev was about to knock, startling him back a step.

"I-I'm f-fine. Just tripped a little on the way here." Her face showed complete disbelief, but she checked her phone and sighed.

"Look Kevin, my daughter is throwing up at the daycare and I have to pick her up as soon as I possibly can. I know you're a responsible student, and since you were responsible enough to actually come to your detention in the first place… Just go home Kevin, and make sure you pay attention for the rest of the year." Kev just nodded and moved aside to watch her hurry down the hall towards the teacher's parking lot.

Kev gave a shuddery sigh at the thought of the long, long walk to his car. Steeling himself against the pain, Kev made it to the car and into the driver's seat before collapsing. Most of the parking lot was empty already, so there was no one around to hear his sobs.

He let his guard drop, and Kev began sobbing. Crying from the pain, from the unfairness of it all. The sobs made the bruising on his chest burn a thousand times more. He could feel the broken rib moving with each heaving sob. Kev let the sobs die down and rested his head on the steering wheel. I went to start the engine, only to notice a bag on the hood. Someone must had put it there while he was crying, the thought making his face heat up.

He climbed out and grabbed the bag before falling back into the driver's seat. With shaking hands, Kev opened the white plastic shopping bag, afraid of what could possibly be inside. With a shocked smile, he pulled out three rolls of thick gauze, a bottle of Advil and a short note.

 _"Remember, wrap your torso so your ribs can be supported. It'll take a few weeks for the pain to fade, so be prepared for that. Don't give up."_

There was no name signed at the end, but Kev knew who it was from. His face melted from a pained grimace to a warm smile, and his drive home wasn't as horrid as it usually was after a run in with Tony and his friends.

* * *

 **I've wanted to write a Keved story for a long time. I don't know why, but this hip is so adorable. I guess I have a thing for a nerdy/bad boy ship. (My OTP is PruCan haha. Quite, shy and nerdy paired with loud, obnoxious and kinda mean. I think they balance eachother out.**

 **This shouldn't have more than five or six chapters if they stay this length. I have a general idea of how I want this to go.**

 **If you have any ideas or suggestions, don't hesitate to let me know. I'm quite proud of the fact that I've been able to work in almost every suggestion given to me by readers in all of my stories.**

 **Thank you for reading. I hope you enjoyed it, and I hope you come back and read the next installment, whenever that might come out.**

 **~Starlight~**


	2. Chapter 2

**One night and I woke up to a bunch of favorites and follows! Man, you guys are awesome!**

 **Warnings for this chapter~ Bullying, mentions of past self harm.**

* * *

It took him a little longer to get home than usual because stopping at stop signs were extra painful. His house was average, if on the shabby side, but it was home. Pushing the door open, he called out.

"I'm home!" Silence greeted him and he sighed with relief. Usually his mother was home, but today she must have gotten a call at the hospital. His dad worked full time as the manager of the local grocery store so he was almost never home before dark.

Sure enough there was a note on the kitchen table.

 _Kev, I got called into work on an emergency. I was planning on making chicken but it looks like you're on your own for tonight sweetheart. Love you –Mom_

Kev smiled faintly and move slowly to the cabinets. He pulled out a glass and filled it with some of the iced green tea his mom had made yesterday before grabbing his backpack and the white bag in his right hand and heading upstairs.

Once in his room he threw his bag off to the side and eased himself onto the edge of the bed. Peeling off his jacket and shirt, he felt tears begin to slide down his cheeks. He didn't move from the bed for several minutes, the almost silent room echoing his ragged breathing. Finding the courage to stand, he walked over to the mirror bolted to the back of his door.

It was worse than he thought. The molted bruising stretched from just under his collarbone down to his waist line, but the skin over his ribs was borderline purple already. Kev knew the bruising wouldn't fade for a while, and the pain would last longer than that.

Gingerly, he unrolled the first package of gauze and began to wrap from his waist up. It did indeed take all three rolls to finish, but he immediately noticed a difference. Breathing didn't cause as much of a strain, and it made the swelling look nonexistent under his shirt. Glancing at his upper arm, he signed again.

Kev walked to his closet in slightly less pain and pulled out a cardboard box from the back. Steeling his nerves, he opened the box he had prayed he would never have to open again. Though it's been two years since he boxed it all up, he knew the exact content of the little box and the journal directly on top. With shaking hands he moved them aside and removed four long sleeved T-shirts. He had a few long sleeved button ups already hanging up, but he couldn't wear them to school every day until the bruise faded enough to be covered.

The new shirts weren't anything fancy. Plain, darker colors, with a few graphics on one or two of them. Hopefully no one would connect the shirts to his actions two years ago. Shrugging on the blue one, he was pleased to note that everything looked normal, if not a little more muscular thanks to the wrappings.

He threw the little box and the journal back into the cardboard box before shoving it back into the farthest corner of his closet. A little voice in the back of his head nagged that he shouldn't hide it again, that he would be better off accepting it again, but Kev ignored it and slammed the closet door shut.

He went back into the white bag and pulled out the bottle of painkillers, taking four with the iced tea and stashing the bottle in his desk drawer. Finally he pulled out the note and pinned it to the corkboard that hung above his desk. It was filled with scraps of papers with reminders and notes from his parents and pictures, and now a note from his guardian angel.

Kev smiled and began pondering how he could repay Edd for his kindness. He would start with a simple 'thank you' and move on from there.

He spotted his backpack from the corner of his eye and groaned. He opened the bag and fished out the crumpled paper that Tony had left behind this afternoon. It was the criteria for the creative writing project.

 _Write a short story about yourself as your complete opposite. It must be at least one thousand words, and have a shocking twist at the end._

Kev made a face at the assignment. He would have to play this right or he would be in a world of pain. The first thing that pops into mind would be Tony as a nice, helpful, kind person, but he knew if he wrote about Tony as if he as mean now, he might wake up in the hospital.

He pulled out a notebook and began writing an outline of some ideas. The best one was Tony as someone weak and picked on. Someone like, well, himself. That would show Tony as someone strong and confident and popular in real life.

Kev scoffed at the thought of Tony being popular. He's feared, that's why people hang around him. He pulled out his laptop from the biggest drawer and began tying the introduction. He honestly thought it would be easy to knock this assignment out seeing how he was writing about his own life and using another name instead of his own.

* * *

Rubbing his eyes, he checked the word count and groaned at the mere 980 words on the screen. Even though he had been working for over an hour, he kept going back and erasing everything. It was all too personal, too detailed. Only someone who had experienced this kind of life first hand would have known what he was putting into this paper. It needed to be vague enough that Tony's teacher won't suspect him of cheating, and detailed enough that Tony doesn't come and take his bad grade out on Kev's poor face.

He blinked languidly and slumped in his desk chair, letting out a stream of air at the pain in his chest. Though decreased, it was still insatiable. Kev heard the front door close and glanced over at the clock. It was almost eight already, thanks to him staying late after school and spending so much time wrapping his new wounds. Knowing his mother would be coming up to check on him, he slipped under his blankets and turned away from the door.

Speak of the devil, Mrs. Barr gently knocked on his door and opened it a crack. Even without having to look, Kev knew she was peeking her head in, like she usually does.

"Kevin?" She whispered. "Well goodnight dear. I'll see you in the morning." Kev smiled into his pillow, glad that his mom was always there for him. As the door closed, he sat up and began to change into his pajamas when he heard a ding from his backpack.

He dug through the pockets until he pulled out his cell phone. His mom was more than happy to get him a newer model of smart phone, and although he didn't text people very often Kev was very fond of his apps.

A new message flashed on the screen covering the outdated screensaver. Kev was a little nervous seeing he had a message from an unknown number, but from experience he knew it would be better if he checked, just in case.

 _"Do not go to sleep with your torso wrapped."_

Kev smiled at the small screen. He debated texting back and ended up sitting on his bed without a shirt on, staring at an empty response screen trying to convince himself to respond.

 _"Almost didn't take them off. Thanks for the warning. And everything else."_

The second he hit the send button, he was afraid he was being too forward. He felt his breathing pick up as thoughts flung through his head. He threw his phone at his pillows and held his head in his hands. _You scared him off he hates you now look at how far he went for you he went out of his way to help you and look what you did-_

Kev's internal ranting was cut off by a muffled buzz. Shooting his head up, he scrambled to grab the device and opened the new message. Through his tears, he saw another short message.

 _"Do not worry about it Kevin. I will watch out for you seeing how you won't do it yourself."_

Kev grinned and wiped his face, mentally slapping himself for letting his thoughts get the better of him again. He reread the message over and over until his eyes began to sting. As he drifted off to sleep, Kev's last thought of the night was that he probably should have messaged him back.

* * *

Kev's alarm blared loudly, and if he wasn't even sorer today than he was last night, he would have jumped a foot in the air. He slapped the alarm and sat up, rubbing the exhaustion from his eyes. Thankfully he always woke up almost two hours before he even had to leave for school. Kev grabbed a pair of dark jeans and the same blue long sleeved shirt he was wearing briefly the night before as well as socks and underwear from his drawer. As a last minute thought he snagged the wrappings that were piled on the ground by his desk.

Heading to the bathroom, he listened to the house and was greeted with silence. Normally if a kid woke up all alone every morning, they would feel abandoned, but it was the opposite for Kev. He actually looked forward to his alone time in the morning.

He closed and locked the door behind him, dropping his clean clothes next to the sink, piling the wrappings onto the sink counter. Turning the handle of the shower, he had to fiddle with it to actually get the hot water to run. His father swore up and down he was going to fix the pipes, but he's always been too busy to actually do anything.

Stripping down to his boxers, Kev turned to the mirror above the sink. His red hair was a little shiny and messy, and the bags under his eyes matched his torso almost perfectly. He let his eyes drift down to the molted bruising covering him like a shirt. He quickly looked away from the colorful collage and his attention was caught by his legs.

Two years can do a lot for a person. Thin, white lines were lacing both of his upper thighs. Most of the deeper cuts had left nothing more than a pinkish line, and thankfully the raised scars had begun to fade a few months ago. Kev felt his stomach flop around. Although he's been clean for such a long time, it still tugged at his urges to see his scars.

He tested the water and was pleased to find the hot water heater had finally kicked in and the shower was scalding. Hissing, Kev stepped into the steaming stream of water, letting the heat wash over his body and relax his muscles. He had found that extremely hot showers helped with the pain. Whether or not the heat helped with the bruises, he had no clue. He just knew it made it easier to move around after getting his ass handed to him.

He stayed in the stream of the water until he could no longer feel the burn of the heat before turning off the shower and stepping out. He wrapped a towel around his waist and wiped the steam off the mirror. Kev flipped on the fan and dried himself off.

It took his longer today to wrap his torso thanks to the extreme soreness. It took less than half the time to actually get dressed. Kev was surprised to see his jeans were slightly too large. He must have lost some weight in the past couple months.

He went back to his room and dug through the bottom drawer of his dresser, getting more and more frustrated.

"I _know_ there's a belt in here!" He eventually got tired of simply digging though the crap in the drawer and began taking stuff out and throwing it somewhere behind him. While searching for his missing belt, Kev came across two beanies, his old wallet with the attached chain, his old thick rimmed glasses and the concealer he would use during the winter when he was even paler than normal. Finally, he found the black leather belt tangled up with his patterned suspenders.

Shaking his head at his disastrous fashion, he untangled the belt and looped it through the pant loops and buckled it. Though he already knew he was thinner, Kev was momentarily surprised to see the belt needed to be buckled three holes tighter.

For the fun of it, Kev grabbed one of the beanies laying on the floor behind him and covered his still damp hair with it. Glancing in the mirror, the first thing that popped into his mind was a tall, dark boy with grey eyes and a bitter smile.

Blushing lightly, Kev threw the beanie onto his bed and grabbed his usual cap and glasses before trekking to the kitchen to scavenge for breakfast. His mom, bless her soul, left a plate of French toast on the counter and a small note next to it.

 _"Good morning dearheart! I hope you slept well. I made you some breakfast, but I'm afraid I'll be out of the house for the whole day. I left some money for your lunch under the plate, and there's $20 pinned to the corkboard along with some takeout menus. You can decide what you'd like for dinner. I probably won't be back until after you're asleep or even before morning, so if I don't see you, mommy loves you and I hope you have a good day at school! –love mom"_

Kev tried to prevent the smile caused by his mother's almost embarrassing love, but couldn't keep it completely off his face. He shook his head and put the plate in the microwave as he pocketed the money.

The ride to school went smoothly as ever. Kev only passed two stoplights on the way, and both were green, surprisingly. His parking spot was clear and no one hassled him on the way into the building. He made it all the way to his locker before anything happened.

"Hey, fuckass." Kev flinched, recognizing the voice immediately.

"H-hey Tony." Kev didn't take his eyes off the books in his locker. He felt a hand on his shoulder, but it wasn't a comforting weight like Edd's. Tony was digging his fingers into Kev's shoulder, causing the smaller to cry out weakly.

"So how's my English project coming along?"

"Good actually. I should have it finished either tonight or tomorrow." Kev didn't know how he kept his voice solid.

"That's good to hear." The hand on his shoulder tightened. "Then you won't mind this." A thick folder was thrown into Kev's face.

"W-what are there?" He was almost afraid to ask.

"This is the rest of my work. Seeing how my other 'helpers' are suspended for the week, I need someone else to do it so I can focus on the championships this weekend. And who better to do it than the fucker who fucked everything up?" Tony leaned in and growled the last part into Kev's ear, causing the latter to cringe.

"I see. I'll get started on this as soon as possible…" His voice was flat, devoid of all emotion.

"Very good, _freak_ " Kev felt something in him break.

See, every person has a specific trigger word, a word that makes the world pause and their heart skip a beat and bring back those not-so-friendly thoughts. Those words include those such as "worthless", "pathetic", "fat" and many more. Kevin Barr's just happened to be _freak._

Kev didn't hear Tony leave. He just heard roaring in his ears. He didn't hear the bell ring either. He knelt in front of his locker, hearing nothing, feeling nothing.

The thoughts came swirling back. After a year of therapy and two years of being clean, that little black box burst open and consume him.

"-in! Kevin! Can you hear me?" A heavy hand shook his shoulder and Kev violently flinched away, still stuck in his mind.

"No! Don't touch me!" Kev fell aside, trying to free himself of the pain that was sure to follow.

"Kevin I beseech you. It is merely me. I saw you in the hall long after the bell had signaled class to begin and tried to wake you from your stupor." As his head began to clear, Kev recognized the familiar beanie and not so familiar look of concern on the usually stoic boy's face.

"Edd?" A faint look of relief crossed Edd's features before settling in his usual scowl.

"Thank goodness. Come Kevin, I shall take you to the nurse's office for you to lie down. You are in no mental state to be in class."

"Kev…"

"Excuse me?"

"I prefer to be called Kev. I don't like my full name anymore." Edd game the ginger a very odd look.

"I suppose I can make that change for you, Kev." He said it as if tasting something foreign for the first time. He gently helped the other stand and grabbed Kev's backpack from the ground with a graceful swoop.

"I can carry my own bag." Kev's voice was faint and Edd was barely sure he actually heard it.

"I refuse. If I could have my way, I would carry your emancipated frame to the nurse myself."

"Emanc- I'm not emancipated!" Kev spluttered as he tried to keep up with his companion's much longer legs.

"Kevin, no Kev – my apologies – You have gone through an immense decrease in weight in the past few months. Enough so that you may be considered flat out malnourished."

"I eat plenty Edd. Besides, why should you care? Why are you bothering to care so much now? You never cared before…" Kev hadn't meant to say all what was on his mind, but it just kind of slipped out. Edd stopped walking and Kev almost slammed into the lithe back of the swimmer.

"I have my own reasons and justifications for my actions. Maybe one day I will share those reasons but today is not that day. Now hurry up." He started walking again, slightly faster this time. Kev realized that he would just have to accept his answer for now and try to keep up.

* * *

Kev found himself sitting in the Nurse's waiting room, trying to listen to the conversation happening between Edd and Nurse Donna but it was too faint for him to make anything out. Within five minutes, Edd came back out of the office with Nurse Donna following close behind.

"Follow me Mr. Barr. Eddward has explained the situation to me and you have permission to stay here until the end of the day."

"Honestly Nurse Donna, I'm fine/ I can go back to class no problem-"

"No objections Mr. Barr. Now go lie down. Mr Vincent here will make sure all your work for today is collected." Kev looked pleadingly at Edd, only to be snuffed completely.

"Yes Kev. Please go lie down. I will be back at the end of the day to collect you." Kev was led to the back room and was all but forced to sprawl out on the bed.

"Kev, I implore you to wake up. It is now time to leave." Kev stirred slightly, still groggy from his unexpected nap.

"Five more minutes…" he murmured under his breath. He faintly heard a sign before feeling two strong arms under him. He stirred at the pain that flashed across his skin, but the rocking of footsteps lulled him back into a sleepy stupor.

He jolted awake when he was placed in the seat of a car. Kev's eyes flew open in time to see Edd tossing two bag into the back seat. Edd slid into the car, his jeans making no sound on the slick leather seat.

"You're finally awake. I had to carry you to the car." Kev felt his face begin to burn at the thought of being carried.

"Edd, what about my car?"

"I have planned for this. I will drive you to your house, and pick you up tomorrow morning for school. You can pick your car up tomorrow." There was such a tone of finality in his voice, Kev couldn't find a way to argue.

"Turn right here." The car ride was in complete silence except for directions.

"Go around this bend and turn left." A silent nod. They made it in record time, almost completely due to the fact that Edd drove quite fast. They pulled into the driveway and Kev immediately took note that neither of his parents cars where there.

"Come alone Kev. We have many things to discuss." It didn't click in Kev's brain what Edd was implying until the taller of the two grabbed the bags and went to try to open the front door. Kev hurried over and unlocked it before letting himself and Edd into the house.

Kev was glad his mom enjoyed cleaning in her spare time, because at least his house was presentable for his unexpected guest.

"DO you want anything to eat or anything?" Kev wasn't used to having guests over, so he really didn't know how to act.

"Is this a note from your Mother?" Edd's voice was quite, reserved.

"Um yeah. She was called into work early today so she left money for dinner." That reminded him. "Oh yeah! Are you staying for dinner? Cuz mom gave me money to order something." Edd was staring at the note, his hand shaking a little.

"Edd?" Kev saw the slight tremble in his hand and started to freak out.

"I'm fine." He sounded anything but fine, but Kev let it drop, unsure of how he would even begin to approach the subject. "Let's go sit."

The sat at the dining room table across from each other. Edd dug in one of the bags and tossed something onto the table. The folder slide and spun once before landing in front Kev. His face drained of color when he realized just which folder it was.

"T-that's… I'm just helping out. It's my fault his f-friends are in trouble. It's my responsibility. I deserve this." His voice dropped to almost silence by the last sentence. He never meant for anyone to know that, but with Edd it just kind of, slipped out.

"Let's begin there, shall we?" Kev's heart sank.

* * *

 **I don't know why I love this story so much. I guess it's the first multi chapter story I've started since I've noticed my writing style improving. Going back, my earlier stories kind of suck. Maybe that's why I'm so proud of this? I dunno.**

 **Thanks everyone for the follows and favorites. It makes me almost giddy to see that people enjoy my writing.**

 **I'm sorry for any spelling errors. I have to leave for school early this morning and don't have time to re-read the whole thing.**

 **~Starlight**


	3. Chapter 3

**don't know if I'll be able to update at all over the weekend. I'm going to a Ren faire with my family and I have to teach children how to dance on Sunday, so this might be the last chapter for a few days. Who knows!**

 **Mentions of self-harm and bullying.**

* * *

"Let's begin there, shall we?" Kev's stomach twisted.

"Start with what?" He stood and walked to the corkboard, pulling off some of the menus pinned there.

"Kev please stop trying to deny the obvious facts." Kev threw three of the more appetizing menus onto the table in much of the same manner as Edd had thrown the folder. Edd picked one up and began scanning the vegetarian options.

"I'm not denying anything! Pick a menu. I have to run upstairs and grab something from my room. I'll be back in a minute." Kev all but ran from the room, doing the only thing he could think of to avoid this conversation: run.

He heard faint objection behind him as he raced up the stairs, his shoes clomping on the steps. He opened his bedroom door and stopped. He had forgotten about the mess he had made that morning, and was slightly shocked to see his room in such a state of chaos.

He gathered some of the stuff in his arms and plopped it into the bottom drawer that he had left open. One of his beanies fell out of his arms, and as he bent down to scoop it up, a cry escaped his lips, reminding him of why he went upstairs in the first place.

Just before his fingers brushed the hat, another set of long, slender fingers swooped in and picked it up. Spinning around, Kev came face to face with the same pair of slate grey eyes that have been preoccupying his mind. He had turned around so quickly, he slammed into the taller boy's chest.

Kev didn't quite realize how short he was in comparison to Edd until he found himself looking up at him, the ginger hair barely reaching the other's shoulders.

"I never thought you would have this kind of fashion taste Kev." He gave a lopsided smirk at the hat before tossing it back with the rest of the stuff. He walked over and started looking through the papers pinned up on the corkboard.

"Um I went through a… phase about three years ago. I've changed since then." He said bitterly, reminiscing about his stint with depression.

"Three years ago? That was before I moved here." His finger brushed one of the notes, a small smirk making his way to his mouth.

"Oh that's right. You just moved here last year, didn't you?" Edd paused for a second, as if trying to figure out how to respond. His finger dropped and Kev saw which note he was looking at. Blushing, he pretended that he didn't let Edd see the note he himself wrote up on the corkboard along with all the notes from his mom.

"My Mother and Father are always away on business, but they thought moving closer to their business office would be beneficial." Kev could tell Edd was lying through his teeth, but didn't push it. He knew from his own experiences not to push something someone didn't want to share.

Part of Kev was upset that Edd wasn't going to be truthful with him. The other part of him was glad that Edd hadn't known about him before he went through therapy and packed that whole life up and forgot about it.

Kev walked to the desk and pulled the pill bottle out of the top drawer, popping the cap off and dumping a few into the palm of his hand. He threw his head back and reached for the left over tea from last night when he was violently smacked on the back.

Surprised, he spit the pills out onto his desk, gagging at the taste of the orange covering that covered his tongue. He chugged the rest of his tea to get rid of the taste.

"What the _hell_ Edd?" Kev whirled around with his face drenched in questioning.

"First of all Kev, there's no need for that kind of language." His voice was cold, colder than usual. "Secondly, _WHAT THE HELL WHERE YOU THINKING?"_ Edd grabbed the collar of Kev's shirt and pulled the pale freckled face close to his own.

"What in the world are you talking about?" Kev was honestly confused why Edd was acting so strange.

"What am I-?" He released the shirt and covered his face with his and slid his hand down, pulling his face down a little. If he wasn't afraid he would get punched, Kev would have thought it was like something out of an anime or something.

" _Kevin._ " Edd ground his name out. "How many pills did you just spit out?" Kev turned to count the little half dissolved pills on his desk top.

"Nine…"

"And is that a healthy amount?" Kev shrugged.

"I dunno."

"You _dunno?"_ Edd's eyes were fiery. His hand clenched into a fist and covered his mouth with it. "Kevin, why did you take nine advil?" Kevin shrugged again.

"I never count how many pills I take. I haven't really taken in a few years, and when I did I didn't care how many I took. I guess that habit carried on." Kev looked down at his feet, unsure he should have revealed so much. He really hoped that Edd wasn't smart enough to realize what he had insinuated as well.

"Kevin… what happened three years ago?" Kev felt his throat begin to close up. His mind working a million miles a second still couldn't come up with a way to run away from this one like he had back in the kitchen. His breathing became shallow and his eyes started to blur. He knew he was going past an anxiety attack straight into a panic attack.

"Edd…" Just as Kev was about to choke, a phone began to ring. Edd flinched, pulling a sleek caseless phone from the back pocket of his skinny jeans. One glance at the caller ID and his face twisted up in a rage. If Kev had been in his right mind, he would have been terrified.

"Listen Kev, I know I dropped this all on you at once. I have to take this call, so take this time to practice your breathing. Like I told you." Kev numbly nodded his head and Edd all but ran out the door and to the front porch.

"Hey Double D! No one told me you were out of Juvie already!" The voice send Edd's nerves on edge. He spent so long away from that nasally voice, but hearing it again it was if he never left that backwater cul-de-sac.

"That is because I did not wish for anyone to be informed of my release." Edd's voice was cold, cold and dead.

"Aw that's no fun Double D! Hey listen, I broke into your old house cuz all your crap is still there, and saw some mail for you. Obviously I opened it and found your new address." Edd could almost feel a vein about to burst on his forehead.

"Eddy, it is against the law to not only break into someone else's home, but to open someone else's mail. Besides, I didn't want you to know my new address."

"What? Sock head what the hell is with you? You sound all fucked up." Edd ground his teeth, trying to keep his temper under control.

"Don't use that kind of language with me. It's disgusting. Why did you call me?"

"Well it was supposed to be a surprise but," Edd heard a loud honk and some more explicit language. "But Ed and I are on our way to see you!"

Edd's heart stopped dead.

"Eddy if I see your face I swear I'll-" He was cut off.

"Hold on dork! We'll be there in a day or two. Ed's been stopping every ten minutes to pee so it's a way longer trip then it should be."

"Eddy do NOT-"

"SEE YEAH SOON!" Edd stood there, listening to nothing as the sound of Eddy's voice reverberated through his skull. He slowly slipped his phone back into his pocket and let his feet carry him back into Kev's house.

Kev was in the kitchen, sitting at the table, with a tall icy glass in front of him. When he heard the door open, his head shot up. Kev flinched seeing such a dark expression on his, dare he say it?, friend's face.

"Edd…" his voice was a little shaky but fairly under control. "I-I took the right amount of painkillers. The bottle said three." Kev looked down at his hands, still folded on the table. The bottle sat on the table a few feet away from him.

Edd walked over and opened the bottle, pouring several into his hand and dry swallowing them. He made sure not to let Kev see how many he took. It wasn't okay for such a small body to have so many pain killers in his system at once, but his own body had become immune to any small amount of Advil. At this point he needed at least five before he felt any relief.

"Edd?" Kev's voice was so soft Edd almost missed it. "Is everything okay?" Edd shook his head, slumping down in one of the chairs.

"Don't you hate it when your past comes back to bite you in the ass?" Kev was shocked at the cuss coming from Edd.

"What happened?" A small voice told Kev this was good. Have Edd spill his guts and have him forget that he was trying to pry into Kev's background. The rest of the voices were static with worry, afraid for Edd's safety.

"The phone call…. It was an old friend, though I hesitate to call him that anymore. He got me into great trouble a while back, and I was more than willing to forget about him completely. But it seems I can never escape my past, for he is coming in two days' time to…to…. _To fuck with me again!"_ He slammed his fist into the table.

Edd felt a dainty hand on his shoulder, and turned towards the body next to him. Kev had moved to comfort him, but was more than surprised to have him curl into his chest. Kev felt the jacket clad boy trembling.

"I must leave immediately." Edd tried to stand, but Kev pushed him back down into the chair. Edd's eyes opened wide with shock at the sudden strength from the smaller boy. His wide eyes were filled with fear and openness, something completely different from the usual coolness that turned most people away.

"Edd, tell me what you want to eat." Edd just shook his head, crossing his arms and looking down, blinking away tears.

He watched as Kev placed three menus in front of him. He numbly lifted one and pointed at something random, veggie pizza, Kev just nodded and pulled out his phone.

Edd's head was fuzzy. He was usually so in control of his emotions and actions, but his whole world was just thrown on its head. He could feel himself shaking, but couldn't control his limbs. He could feel his eyes sting, but he couldn't control the numbness.

And it was scaring him.

He hadn't realized that Kev had left until a pizza was placed on the table in front of him.

"Kevin I implore you to let me leave. This is something I need to deal with on my own. I refuse to bother you with this."

"You aren't bothering me in the slightest. Unlike when I said I enjoy helping others with their school work," Kev smiled slightly, "I actually am glad to help you. Besides, you helped me. This is the least I can do." Edd looked up at him from under his signature beanie with vulnerable eyes.

"Edd please trust me." Edd slumped in his seat and slid down so his body was stretched out and sighed heavily.

"My whole childhood, I was part of a trio. This trio got into a lot of trouble. There was the ring leader, the brawn and the brain. I was the latter. Eddy, the ringleader, came up with these ridiculous scams to get money from the kids in our area. I was always the one to plan these scams, and therefore I was the one to get reprimanded if the scam failed."

Two years ago, when I was only sophomore in high school, Eddy had his master plan, and of course he made me plan it all out. He set it all up, and it should have been the perfect scam. Except I made a miscalculation. A small one, but a vital one. I realized this one moment too late, and the contraption collapsed."

There was…blood….everywhere…" Edd's whole body shuddered, his eyes staring at the wall as if watching something a thousand miles away. "Thankfully no one was killed, but seven kids were sent to the hospital. One of the kids, a foreign boy, lost his arm from the elbow down. When the cops got there, Eddy threw me under the bus, telling the officers that it was my plan. That I designed it."

I was taught never to lie, especially to authority figures, so I told them truthfully. Yes, I designed the ride. Yes, it was my fault the ride collapsed. They took me away. Locked me up in Juvenile Detention for six months. I was a child, skinny, short. The perfect target for the actual criminals in that hellhole. And target they did." His eyebrows tightened and his face darkened drastically.

They… let's just say I entered as a child and left as this. After being release I came straight to this town." He hung his head. "I apologize for deciving you earlier. I haven't told anyone what happened."

"Oh my god…" Kev didn't bother to wipe the tears away as he watched Edd break down in front of him. He couldn't picture Edd as anything as what he is now. Tall and intimidating, with dark skinny jeans and a red shirt, covered with a black jacket and the sleeves rolled up. Dog tags, black boots and his signature beanie. What was he like before?

What where these people from his childhood like?

Kev was afraid he was going to find out sooner than he would have liked.

* * *

 **I'm sorry if they jumped from one emotion to the other, I was basing it off how my own emotions can change. Also, I know Edd is a little OCC (even out of character for Reverse Edd) but that's how I thought someone in his position would react.**

 **I'd like to say thank you to everyone who read and enjoyed this story. I might not be able to update anytime soon, so I'm glad I got this out today.**

 **Coming next: Two thirds of the trio show themselves and Kev's harsh depression is revealed.**

 **Until next time!  
~Starlight**


	4. Chapter 4

**Not much of a response from the last two chapters, but I honestly love this story. I see some author's saying they won't update until they get a certain amount of reviews or whatever but I just love writing so I find that a little weird.**

 **I went back and reread the first three chapter and I was really proud of myself! I really hope you guys are enjoying this as much as I am!**

 **A big thanks to** **Ern Estine 13624** **and** **cosplay dreamer** **for being my first reviewers! It really means a lot to me that you enjoyed my story so much to leave a review.**

 **Warnings for this chapter: Mentions of past self-harm**

* * *

Edd sat at Kev's kitchen table for a good while, eating pizza in silence while Kev filled the void with frivolous stories about his childhood, movies he liked, books he's read, and just about anything he could think of.

Edd wasn't bring very responsive, but Kev watched closely for any change in the dead expression. If he was going to be honest, Kev was getting more and more worried about his friend, but he had no clue what to do. He wanted to ask him mom for advice, but she would be at work until after he left for school, and his dad left for a business trip with his company.

"And when he walks past the peasant women and they see the blood, oh man my heart stops every time!" Kev was currently rambling about one of his favorite Miyazaki films, Princess Mononoke, when there was suddenly a spark in Edd's eyes.

"Kev…" the ginger's heart jumped at the sound of the deep if not slightly scratchy voice. "…Have you started Anthony's writing project?" Though soft, his tone was very decided.

"Oh um yeah. It's up in my room. I'll go grab my laptop real quick. We can sit in the living room, it'll be home comfortable than these wooden chairs." Edd gave a mindless nod and stood as well. He followed Kev out of the kitchen, but sat on the couch while Kev kept going up the steps to the upstairs level of his house.

His laptop was still sitting on his desk, the screen timed out. He closed it and scooped it up in his arms, cradling it like a child. As he went to leave, he glimpsed the note left in the bag and smiled, his determination to help Edd strengthening.

Even before he made it to the bottom step, Kev saw Edd curled up on the couch. He was curled into the smallest space possible, his knees pulled up to his chest. His chin was resting on top of his knees and his long arms were wrapped around his shins. He looked pretty pathetic, but Kev would never tell that to his face.

"Edd, do you need anything?" Kev wanted to announce his arrival without startling Edd. He saw the back of the beanie sway with the shake of his head. He went and placed the laptop on the coffee table. Edd finally untangled himself and opened the computer, eyes making quick work of the words in the screen.

"His teacher would notice in an instant this isn't his writing." Kev's jaw dropped. He had worked so hard to write it properly.

"B-but I tried wording it-"

"Anthony is in no way intelligent enough to start his own essay with such advanced word play. Its instantaneously obvious it was written by someone of a higher caliber than that pig." Kev felt his cheeks heat up at Edd's backhanded compliments. No one had ever called his writing advanced or a high caliber.

Kev watched in awe as Edd's fingers flew across the keyboard. Within fifteen minutes, there was five pages on the screen, and almost two thousand words. Edd broke out of his trance and fell back onto the couch, stretching his fingers. Kev spun the computer around and skimmed the first page. He was _amazed_ at the quality of the work.

It wasn't an amazing writing piece, but if Kev hadn't watched Edd type it in front of his face, he would have believed whole heartedly that Tony wrote it himself.

"Edd, this is amazing!"

"It's nothing special. I just employed my knowledge of Anthony's writing style." Kev blinked back sudden tears. He sniffled, trying to keep his tears in check. Looking at the document, Kev realized he would be _safe_.

"Thank you…" A single tear made it down his face. He was going to be _okay._ Edd started at the sight of the tear _._

"Do not cry Kev. It was nothing, honestly." Kev shook his head, letting another tear drip off his chin.

"No you don't understand." His breathing hitched. "I'm going to be okay. Tony won't hurt be because of this! And he said he would repay me. Maybe he'll leave me alone!" Though Kev was used to fearing the worst of a situation, he couldn't help but hope that maybe this time he would actually be free of his torment.

"Kev…" Edd's eyebrows scrunched up and he reached a hand out to wipe the tears from Kev's cheek. Kev started laughing through his tears, using one sleeve to wipe his eyes, pushing his glasses up a little, the other sleeve to cover his mouth.

Kev didn't understand why he was acting like this. He guessed the relief was just too much for him at the time.

"Why are you doing that?" Kev dropped his one hand, the other still working to dry his eyes.

"Doing what?

"Covering your face like that." Kev cocked his head to the right, confused. "That was the first time you've smiled in front of me and you covered your face. Why?"

"I dunno… I've just always done that." Edd smirked and shook his head. He reached his hand up and took off his beanie, running his fingers through his hair. Kev had never seen the boy without his hat, but before he could gawk the hat was replaced.

"Are you tired, Kev?" Kev gave Edd a strange look.

"No?" Edd stood and stretched. Kev couldn't help but notice how his shirt rode up a little, exposing his lower stomach. His face flared red and he turned his head away.

"Good. We are going to complete all of the folder's work tonight, so you don't have to worry about anything."

"You don't have to help!" Kev yelped. "I have no problem doing it all."  
"Yes well I have a problem with that." He turned on his heel and walked into the kitchen, leaving behind a blushing mess of a nerd. He returned seconds later and sat next to Kev on the couch. He turned and gave him a rare smile. "Shall we get started then?"

* * *

Edd looked over at his companion. Kev had slowly been falling asleep for the past three hours and had finally curled up on the couch. Edd let himself relax, and felt an easy smile come to his face. Kev just looked so peaceful. He never noticed how Kev's lips were so feminine until he saw them parted in sleep. Even when he was rambling on over dinner, Kev never looked that at ease.

Edd glanced back down at the piles of paperwork covering the coffee table. Thankfully, Anthony was an idiot and included all the papers he had gotten in class, so only a quarter of the stack was actual work that needed to be done.

Even with that, the two had worked for two hours before Kev started dozing off, three more before Kev was completely out of commission. Edd worked for another hour after to actually finish. He signed and gathered up the different piles, separating them by subject.

He realized something was missing. He checked under the table and looked through the piles he already had. Still missing. Edd glanced over to the curled figure on the couch and let himself smile again. Kev was curled up, a piece of paper clutched in his hand.

Edd gently pried the paper from his hand and attempted to smooth out the wrinkles before giving up and sticking it into the folder. Edd gave a sigh of relief and unlocked his phone. He ignored the three missed calls and six messages and took note of the time.

4:30 AM.

Edd turned to Kev and gently picked him up, carrying him close to his chest. He carried the smaller boy up the stairs and placed him on his bed, taking off his glasses and putting them on the desk. Edd's eyes hurt from exhaustion but he knew he wouldn't be able to sleep properly.

He went back downstairs and removed his jacket, throwing it over the back of the couch and continued into the kitchen. Now that he was alone, there was some things he _had_ to do.

As a child, he had been mocked for his hygiene obsession, but in Juvie, he learned to hide it. But with hiding it, he needed a release.

Edd started with the dished, making sure to wash every inch of the dish, twice. He took a clean hand towel and dried the dished, making sure to dry each side of the dish thoroughly and completely. Putting the dishes away, Edd made absolute certainty to put them where they belong, the large plates under the large plates, large bowls under smaller bowls.

Edd moved into the counters. He sprayed the countertops and wiped them down methodically, making sure there were no lines. He found the mop in the closet and mopped the floor, getting every corner and crevice.

The clock chimed 6 and Edd heard a faint alarm come from above him. He smirked at the following thump and the faint cursing. Just as the footsteps began thumping down the stairs, Edd snagged his jacket and shrugged it on.

Kev smiled sleepily, rubbing his eyes like a child would.

"Oh you're still here Edd?" His voice slurred and Edd willed his face to stay neutral. Kev stumbled into the kitchen and gasped.

"I hope you do not mind Kev, but I straightened up your kitchen when you were asleep." Kev poked his head out of the door.

"Did you actually get any sleep last night?" Edd slunk into the kitchen with his hands in his pockets, smirking.

"I do not require sleep. I have learned to operate without it." Kev's mouth dropped open and Edd almost broke his straight face at the complete belief in his freckled face. Kev's eyes narrowed and he poked Edd's chest.

"Are you tricking me?" Ed rose his eyebrows in mock surprise.

"I would never try to deceive you!" Kev took a step back and narrowed his eyes even more, but Edd couldn't take it anymore. His face broke out into a giant grin. Kev finally caught on and punched Edd in the upper arm.

"I can't believe you actually tricked me!" Kev didn't notice the violent flinch that followed the punch, but Edd managed to play it off. "Wait, what time did I fall asleep?"

"You were fast asleep by 4:30. You were curled up on the couch like a kitten." Kev's face burned brighter than the sun and he covered his face.

"Oh my GOD are you serious?" Edd smiled wider, not worried about the dumb gap in his teeth.

"More serious than I have ever been."

" _OH MY GOD."_ Edd's phone dinged. Kev glanced over and shot a questioning look at him and watched as his face darkened.

"Wait Edd! What are you going to do for school?" Edd gave a soft smile, letting the dark expression fade away. He ruffled Kev's hair despite the smaller's complaints.

"I have an overnight bag in my car at all times. You go do whatever you must to be prepared to leave and I will go retrieve it." Kev gave a thousand watt smile and bounded up to his room. Edd felt another smile cross his face and he slowly shook his head.

Edd walked to the front door and as he opened it, he heard the shower turn on. He refused to acknowledge the not-so-innocent image that flashed across his mind. It took him all of five steps to make it to his car. Rummaging through the trunk, he pushed aside his swimming bag, his roadside kit and miscellaneous items before reaching all the way in the back and snagging the worn strap of his small duffle bag.

Slinging it over his shoulder, he walked back into the house. Taking note of the still running shower and stopped at the bottom of the steps. His eyes widened when he realized what he was hearing. Kev must have been singing in the shower, though slightly off pitch, and Edd thought it was the best singing he had ever heard.

He tossed his bag into the couch and unzipped it, pulling out the pair of dark blue jeans and a long sleeve black T shirt. He growled when we realized he forgot to pack a pair of clean boxers. He _tsked_ under his breath and decided that the pair he was wearing now was clean enough. He had gone commando before but he really wasn't feeling it today.

He stripped off his jacket and shirt, tossing them on the other side of the couch. Wrestling off his jeans, he flinched as the fabric brushed his thighs. Edd looked down at the cuts and sneered, not wanting to remember what made him snap that night.

He pulled on his jeans and gave _another_ irritated growl. He had also forgotten why this particular pair was packed away. They were slightly too short and had a large hole over the right knee. He unlooped the belt from his other pair of jeans and replaced them on his current pair.

Edd realized he lost his hat in the removal of his shirts, and had to stretch over the couch to reach the pile of clothing to dig through it. Just as he pulled the old hat from his shirt, he heard a loud gasp from the stairs.

His head shot up and he felt as if he was kicked in the stomach. Kev was standing three steps from the bottom, dressed for school and hair still damp. Edd tried to brush off what was about to come by struggling with his new shirt. Suddenly, the dam burst.

Kev came running at him, and Edd could see the tears gathering in his green eyes.

"Oh my _god_ Edd! What in the world _happened_?" Kev's chilled fingers traced the thick lines running up Edd's torso. Edd couldn't hold back the shudder that followed the trail left by the other's touch.

"It is nothing Kev." Edd said quietly. He tried to shrug is shirt back on again, only to be stopped by a tight hug. He froze completely, unsure of what to do. He could feel the wetness from Kev's tears on his scarred skin and was afraid.

He dropped him arms to his sides, waiting for the embrace to end. His mind was filling with a white noise, and he almost missed it.

"Not you too…" This caught his attention. Edd grabbed Kev's shoulders and pushed him back. He wanted to yell. He wanted to push the smaller down and make him explain himself, but Kev's eyes were so open and hurt, Edd couldn't bear to do anything.

He took a step back and finally pulled on his shirt. Throwing his dirty clothing back into the bag and zipping it back up. Edd could feel that Kev wanted to question him, but was thankful he was staying quite.

An alarm went off on his phone, warning him he was about to be late for school. Edd scooped up his backpack, his overnight bag and the folder on the table. Without looking back, he slipped on his boots and walked to him car.

Thankfully Kev was able to catch on and was right behind him when he unlocked the doors. He threw his bags into the back seat and handed the folder to Kev, who sat diligently in the passenger seat. Edd started the car and peeled away.

"Edd, please can we talk about what the hell just happened?" Kev was staring straight ahead, his hands clasped in his lap. Edd's hands tightened on the steering wheel. As they approached the first stop light, it turned yellow. Edd didn't slow down, instead he accelerated and blew through the yellow-turning-red light. Kev grabbed the handle and squeak.

Just as he was about to scold me, I turned down a different road.

"Edd the school is the other way." Edd gave a grunt and made another sharp turn. He glanced out the rearview mirror, searching for that sickening sky blue car. He signed in relief at the clear street behind him.

Taking three more turns, Edd pulled up in front of the school and parked next to Kev's car. Kev looked shocked.

"I didn't know we could get to the school that way." Edd quickly got out of the car and grabbed his backpack.

"Do not forget to give the folder to Anthony today." He offered that one piece of advice before walking alone to the school's front doors.

Kev watched as he walked away, trying to decide if he should call after him or not. What he had seen before leaving the house scared him, so much so that he physically could not say anything during the car ride. Kev knew he found out something he wasn't supposed to know, something no one was supposed to know.

Just as Edd's familiar beanie passed around the corner, a bright blue car pulled up next to Kev. The driver's window rolled down to reveal someone about his age, with blonde hair so fine it looked like he was almost bald and a slight overbite. Kev could see through to the passenger seat, where another boy sat. He was older, no doubt about it, but looked as if his mind was in another galaxy. His head was buzzed but he had slight stubble in his chin and a very defined monobrow. The driver spoke, and Kev wanted to cringe at how scathing his voice was.

"Hey, you seem like a dork. Maybe you can help me find another dirk. Dork's tend to stick together right?" Kev stared dumbfounded. "I'm lookin for a dork names Double D. Know him?"

"N-no I don't know anyone names Double D…" The driver scoffed.

"Heard of a 'sock head'?" Kev shook his head harder.

"Not at all." The driver scratched his chin.

"Maybe he's going by his full name. His name is Eddward, but with two D's. Does _that_ ring any bells dork?" But all Kev heard was a buzzing. The homeroom bell chimed in the distance.

"By the way, the name's Eddy. If you see Double Dork around, tell him I'll be at the park till four." The gaudy blue car pulled away, leaving black tire marks on the pavement, a sickly smell in the air and a bad taste in the back of Kev's throat.

* * *

 **Quite a long chapter, but it leads into a very important part of the plot.**

 **Tell me what you think, how you think the story should progress, how I could improve my writing.**

 **Until next time!**

 **~Starlight**


	5. Chapter 5

**Shout out to the Guest review on the last chapter. I know I have a few grammatical errors, but I just get so excited to post a new chapter that I don't have the patience to read through a seven page document. Also shout out to cosplay dreamer for reviewing again!**

 **Whenever I see a notification that I got a new review I'm always paranoid that it's going to be negative but it almost never is, and that's such an amazing thing.**

 **At one point, I'm going to switch POV, but it will still be in 3** **rd** **person. It's just that they go their own ways and I want to show what happens to both at them at the same time.**

 **WARNINGS: Mentions of self-harm, both past and present, and well as rape and offensive language.  
**

* * *

Kev ran as fast as he could away from the parking lot. The muscles in his legs began to burn but he kept running, not to find Edd, but to escape. He had no clue how he was going to tell Edd that his 'friends' are here a day early and looking for him.

He didn't slow down until he was safely behind the doors of the building. He had to check in with the office for being late, and the receptionist gave him a strange look. He must have looked quite odd, Kev thought to himself as he struggled to catch his breath.

He went to the bathroom and headed to the farthest stall, locking it tight behind him and pulling his legs up on the toilet seat. He practiced his breathing, just like Edd taught him. He was happily surprised to find his gasps were returning to normal faster than usual.

Kev sat on the toilet for another ten minutes before the bell signaling the end of first period got him going. He looked in the mirror and saw a ghost staring back at him. Pale skin, dead eyes and trembling lips. He blinked and the ghost vanished, leaving behind a shell shocked kid.

He knew the second bell was going to be chiming soon, so he slipped out of the bathroom and headed to his robotics class. Sitting in his usual seat in the back of the room, Kev felt a little sick seeing half the class absent, thanks to him.

His teacher walked in a few minutes after the bell and rummaged through papers on his desk for another minute before looking up. He scanned the room and made eye contact with the remaining five students in the class. When his eyes locked with Kev's his whole face changed.

"Okay class, here's a hand out for the next project. You guys will be getting a head start it seems. While you read it over make sure to keep in mind what we've been covering in class and sketch out ideas as thoroughly as possible." Kev reached to take the paper when the teacher paused. "Kevin, could you follow me?"

Kev stood, grabbing his phone from his bag and slipping it into his back pocket. Mr. Davis took him out of the technology wing of the school and to where the teacher's offices were. I had never been down this hall, even though he was a senior. He never got in trouble, these past few weeks being an exception, and had never needed extra help.

He was brought to the second room from the end of the hall and was ushered inside. His English teacher, Mrs. Peele, was seated at the large metal desk. When she heard the door open, she looked up and saw her friend and a confused student. Kev sat in the chair in front of the desk, Mr. Davis moving to stand behind it next to Mrs. Peele.

"Kevin, we have some questions for you." Kev gulped and tried to keep his face neutral. He knew what was coming, and was already preparing what he was going to say to get out of this situation without having anyone find out anything.

"Go ahead. Ask me anything." He kept his tone nonchalant, but his hands were trembling.

"Kevin, has anything been bothering you lately?" Kev gave an innocent smile and shook his head, his red bangs swooshing across his glasses.

"Not really. I mean, my homework has been a little difficult to keep up with due to all the projects and papers and such." Internally, Kev congratulated himself for such a natural answer. He willed the tense atmosphere to lighten.

"Have you had any… extra work added to your load in the past few days?" Kev could see right through what they were trying to do.

"No, not that I can think of. I think it's just the stress of senior year and trying to make sure I'm accepted to college and all that. I've been meaning to delegate my work a little better so I'm not up all night trying to keep up." He gave a light hearted chuckle.

"And, have you been approached by anyone?"

"Yeah actually. I've been making some new friends, though it's a little late in my high school career." Another chuckle. He was doing such a good job redirecting their concern.

"Kevin, we mean in an aggressive manner." He was also anticipating this. He forced his face to look shocked.

"Aggressive? Oh no not aggressive at all! Everyone's been really nice this year." He grinned, afraid they would notice he was grinding the lie through his teeth.

"That's good to hear. We were just worried due to… previous behavior you showed, back two years ago." Kev's heart skipped a beat. "We were noticing some things that reminded us of then, and became very worried. Kevin, are you falling back into that behavior?"

Kev clenched his hands together, the trembling becoming more and more noticeable.

"No sir. I've actually been quite happy lately. I just happened across my old long sleeve shirts and decided to wear them instead of my usual outfits to try and fit in more. I've always stuck out a little, but it's nothing bad!" Kev rushed to cover his slip. The relief on their faces was almost tangible.

"You have no idea how happy I am to hear that Kevin." Mrs. Peele smiled sweetly at him, and he felt a little sick for lying to them.

"You can head back to class. The period should be ending soon, but you can get some planning done for that project." Kev nodded and pealed out of the office as fast as he could without making his teachers suspicious again. On his way to class, he pulled out his phone and send a quick message to one of the only numbers on his contact list.

" _There's trouble. Save me a seat in the back of class. It's urgent."_ He hit send and hoped he would be able to get to Edd before his 'friends' did.

"Did you believe him?" Kurt Davis asked.

"Not in the slightest." Replied Susan Peele. The two teachers exchanged glances and turned to look worriedly at the empty door frame.

Kev made it back to class in record time and managed to start an elementary sketch of his plan before the bell actually rang. He gathered up his things and rushed to English, knowing his teacher wouldn't be there on time due to their little meeting.

He slipped in the door, pushing through a few students to see the lanky boy already in the farthest corner of the classroom, his bag on the chair next to him. He made a beeline for the back, ignoring the stares of curiosity. Kev could hear what they were thinking.

 _Why is the nerd hanging out with the bad boy?  
What business does Kevin have with someone like Edd?_

 _Why is Edd talking to someone at all, least of all_ that _kid?_

Kev kept his head up and pretended not to notice the attention he was suddenly getting. He couldn't help a small smile from forming when Edd reached over and moved his bag as soon as he got closer. It made it seem like they were actual friends.

 _Are we friends?_ Kev thought to himself as he plopped down into the seat and stored his bag under the desk. _We did come together under really weird circumstances._

"You said there was something quite urgent you wished to discuss with me?" Edd's voice was soft and slightly scratchy as usual, but held a slight tone of apprehension.

"So yesterday you were telling me about your friends, right?" Edd's head nodded once and his eyes told Kev to continue, quickly. "Well this car pulled up next to me after you stormed into the school this morning and started asking about you, but I didn't know they were asking about you at first because they kept asking for someone named 'Sock Head' and 'Double D', but then they said 'Eddward With Two D's' and I knew they were talking about you and I tried to leave but as the bell rang they told me to tell you they would be waiting for you at the park until 4." Kev found himself rambling more and more as Edd's expression became darker and darker.

The teacher came bustling in, carrying a thick folder filled with packets. The class quieted down and she told them about the day's work. They were supposed to get into groups and read through the passage, annotating and answer the rhetoric questions at the end.

A few people stood to walk towards Kev, knowing he was good in groups, but taking one glance at the look of the taller boy next to him they quickly retreated.

Kev and Edd flipped open their packets to the first page and pretended to read the passage. Edd pulled out a piece of paper and began writing.

 _Kev, what do you believe is the best course of action for me, concerning my so called 'friends' at the park?_ Kev didn't know what was more surprising, that fact Edd was actually asking his opinion, or how neat Edd's handwriting was, like calligraphy. It was neater than the note hanging on his coarkboard, probably because the first note was written in a hurry.

 _You should go. Give yourself the chance to tell them off face to face and finally be able to leave your past behind you._

 _You believe so?_

 _Yeah. You'll regret it if you don't._

 _I suppose you are correct._ Kev noticed Edd's hand hesitating over the paper. _Would you accompany me?_

 _Of course I will! Moral support is necessary for something like this!_ Edd's face lit up when he got the note back, and Kev felt his heart melt at the sight.

Kev dug through his bag to find his folder and Edd noticed something.

"Kev, did you not deliver the folder of work to Anthony?" He whispered, so as not to grab the attention of the teacher. Thankfully she had some headphones in and was focused on something on her desk instead of her class. Kev started and shook his head a little.

"I haven't seen him yet. I was planning on doing it during my study hall next period." He responded in an equally soft voice. Edd gave a nod and smiled crookedly, making Kev's heart flutter again.

They continued their note conversation for several more pages, talking about random things, until Edd managed to slip in what had been bugging him all day.

 _Kev, this morning when you saw my torso, what did you mean by 'not you too?'_ Edd passed the paper and watched as Kev's face paled, making his freckles stand out even more. His response was a little shaky, his hand trembling.

 _I didn't_ Kev had crossed out the words _mean to say that_ and wrote the rest of his phrase after the scribble _mean it that way._

 _Then in what way did you mean?_

 _I was just worried._ Edd didn't miss the hesitation in Kev's writing. _I knew someone who had scars like that and it freaked me out a little._

 _Do not worry about those. I haven't done anything to my torso in many, many months._ Edd made a point to leave out the fresher wounds on his thighs from when he received a note in the mail from his parents on the day were supposed to come home, nor did he point out the blatant lie Kev was trying to feed him.

Just as Edd was about to write a response, the bell rang. He quickly hid the papers in his bag and slung it over his shoulder. He waited for Kev to pack up his stuff and walked him to his Study Hall class. Edd watched as the little red head's eyes scanned the crowded library, a bad feeling pooling in the bottom of his stomach.

"Edd you should head to class. The bell is going to ring soon."

"I suppose you are correct. Meet me at my car after school so we can go to the park" Kev gave a wide smile and laughed.

"Sounds like a plan!" Just as Edd was about to turn away, Kev snagged the sleeve of his jacket. "Edd, don't worry. I'll be there for you the whole time." Edd's chest clenched at his sincere smile and smiled back, slightly less secure.

"I'll be counting on you." Edd turned on his heel and left the library, leaving Kev to deal with Tony.

* * *

 **Kev's POV**

Kev placed his bag on his usual desk and pulled out the folder for Tony. After Edd had left, he spotted a small brunette boy, whom Kev knew ran errands for the bully. He told the kid to tell Tony he had something for him. Kev subconsciously began bouncing his foot in anticipation, afraid of what was going to happen.

The thought of Edd's smile swam through Kev's mind, warming his face and giving him a little more confidence to face his bully.

"Hey faggot. Apparently you thought you were important enough to use _my_ pack mule as your messenger. So what's up? You better have something good for me." Kev felt a chill race up his spine at the sound of Tony's cold voice.

"Y-yes. I have your work." Kev held out the folder and flinched when Tony ripped it out of his hand. For a moment, Tony flipped through the papers, checking them.

"Wow freak, these look like I actually did them." Kev flinched again at the use of the word _freak_. He met Tony's icy blue stare and immediately knew something was wrong. "Now it's time for your payment."

"N-now Tony, you r-really don't have to p-pay me back." Tony's grin grew even more feral, as if that was even possible. A strong hand grabbed Kev's wrist and pulled him close to his toned chest. Kev could feel the taunt muscles under Tony's thin t-shirt, fearing what was coming next. Tony pulled a bandana from his back pocket and gagged the red head with it, ignoring the fear shining through his tears. **(A/N WARNING GRAPHIC RAPE IN THIS SECTION)**

"Get ready _freak,_ and enjoy." Kev was pushed face first into the desk, the straps of his bag digging into his cheek. He felt something hard and painful dig into his behind and he began crying harder, trying to wriggle away. A fist came down on the top of his spine, causing his back to arch and a muffled cry to escape his lips.

 _Please…please no._ Kev couldn't speak, but he was screaming in his head.

Tony ground his hips into Kev's ass again, harder than the last time, his eyes shining with a hint of insanity. One of his callused hands held both of Kev's skinny wrists behind his back, the other hand pulled at the smaller boy's fiery hair. He slammed Kev's head down onto the desk as he leaned in. Tony began kissing Kev's freckled neck, tasting the salty tears that were dripping through the saturated bandana.

Tony bit Kev's neck and moaned as the redhead cried through his gag. He could feel himself growing hard at the muffled sounds the dweeb was making. Tony bit Kev's neck over and over, leaving bloody marks all over his skin. Tony release Kev's hair and moved the hand down to Kev's jeans, messing with the front zipper.

Kev felt a hand move down between his legs and began thrashing again, only to he shoved harder into the desk by Tony's hips. The hand unzipped his pants and slipped into his boxers. Kev's sobs were so violent he thought he was going to black out, but there was nothing he could do. There was no way he could over power the soccer player, and there was a slim to none chance anyone would bother coming to this corner of the library anytime this week.

Kev's jeans pooled around his ankles, and it wasn't just the cold air on his legs that made him shutter, but also the warm hand grabbing at his crotch. Tony moved his hand from Kev's crotch to his own, palming his erection through his basketball shorts. He wasn't expecting Kev to wear briefs, and that just added to his sick enjoyment.

This wasn't Tony's first time doing this, he knew what he was doing. He pulled out a small container and covered two fingers with the slimy substance before slipping his hand into Kev's pants. Kev keened at the feeling of cold goop against his anus, but the bandana absorbed the sounds of his innocence being destroyed. Tony stretched him out briefly, just enough so it would be pleasurable for himself. Removing his hand from Kev's briefs, he wiped his fingers on the back of Kev's shirt and pulled his own erection from his pants.

Not bothering with a condom, he dropped Kev's underwear and used one hand to spread Kev's cheeks before lining himself up with the slightly bloody hole. Without warning, he pushed all the way in, almost cumming immediately when Kev arched his back and clenched down on his erection. Without waiting or caring if Kev was ready, Tony pulled out and began slamming back into the smaller boy's ass, faster and faster.

Tony noticed the boy under him had gone limp so he grabbed his hair and yanked his head up, biting his neck again, causing blood to be drawn. He grinned when the body reacted with a violent jerk. He slammed into Kev again and again until he reached his climax, filling Kev before pulling out and pulling his own pants back up.

Tony grabbed his folder and knelt down to Kev, who had fallen to the ground as soon as he was released. He removed the bandana and replaced it in his back pocket. Crouching next to the limp body, Tony leaned in and whispered into Kev's ear.

"That was your payment _freak._ As long as you don't tell _anyone_ , I'll leave you alone completely, deal? You keep your trap shut, and I'll never bother you again. You understand?" Kev couldn't speak, so he just nodded, rubbing his tears into the rug. "Good. Glad we came to an understanding. Oh, and you're a pretty good fuck, for a _freak_ that is."

Kev was left on the library floor, his pants around his ankles and crying silently. He was in _so much pain._ Kev didn't think it was possible to hurt so much, despite his vast history of being abused and beaten. He reached for his phone to call Edd for help, only to see a new voice message from the boy in question.

 _"Greetings_ Kevin. _I am afraid I have to depart from school alone, seeing how you failed to meet me by my car."_ His voice was so icy, so angry, Kev's blood ran cold. _"I apologize for bothering you so much with this. Had I known it would have been such a_ bother _I never would have asked for you to accompany me. I do believe it would be best to keep your distance for a while. I would not want to do anything rash, like promise support, then abandon you."_ Kev could hear the shaking in Edd's voice through the ringing in his own ears.

He checked the time and realized the school bell rang almost two hours ago. It was almost 5:30 already. Kev tried to stand but the pain was too intense. He collapsed back onto the ground and bit his lip to keep the cry from escaping. Tasting blood, Kev did the only thing he could think of.

Despite the horrid voice message Edd left, he was the only one Kev could trust. He dialed Edd's number and prayed he would pick up. The phone rang once, twice, three times, and Kev's heart sank. He went to hang up when he heard something on the other line.

"What do you want?" Kev's voice caught in his throat. He could hear the tears on Edd's voice clear as day.

"Edd… please help me…" His own voice was so ragged and pained. The reality of what just happened hit him all at once and he threw up, gagging at the scent. "P-please oh god please." He began sobbing again, the movements causing the pain in his hips to flare up and the liquid to ooze from between his legs.

"Kevin?" Edd sounded scared. "Where are you?"

"The library…" Kev's vision began to darken.

"Kev! Kev stay awake!"

"Hurry…"

Kev's hearing turned to complete white noise. He couldn't hear the frantic rambling on the other end of the line. Then his whole world went black.

* * *

 **Edd's POV at the same time as when Kevin's POV split**

He left the library and headed to the bathroom in the next hallway over, the one Edd knew was always empty because of the broken urinals. Someone had shattered one a month ago, and no one bothered to fix it past turning the water off for that particular urinal and sweeping up the shattered porcelain. He looked into the mirror and leaned against the sink.

He took note of the dark circles under his eyes and how pale his face looked under the florescent lighting. He took off his beanie and shoved it into his back pocket before turning on the sink and splashing his face. Even though the cold water shocked away the clouding in his mind, Edd was still fuddled.

He thought of the last time he saw Eddy and Ed, feeling the bile rise up in the back of his throat.

* * *

 _"Yeah officer. That kid with the hat was the one who planned everything!" Eddy's voice rang out over the sounds of the crying kids. Rolf was being loaded into an ambulance on a stretcher, while all the other kids were being treated on the spot by the first responders._

 _The police officer walked up to fourteen year old Eddward, who was watching the whole scene with silent horror. He was pulling his hat down over his ears and eyes, trying to block out the scene in front of him._

 _"Son, did you have anything to do with this?" Double D wanted to shake his head, but he was taught never to lie._

 _"Y-yes sir. I came up with the blueprint design… and I also was the one who made the miscalculation." His eyes began to well up with tears. "It's all my fault everyone got hurt!" The officer shook his head._

 _"Son, are your parents available?" Double D hung his head._

 _"No officer. They're off on business. They aren't supposed to be back until next spring." The officer stood and walked over to his partner. They had a quick conversation and the both walked over to Double D._

 _"I'm sorry kiddo, but you're going to have to come with us." Double D shook his head vigorously, trying to back away from the adults. The grabbed his arms and cuffed his wrists behind his back. As they guided him to the police car, Double D made eye contact with Eddy._

 _Eddy grinned and gave Double D a thumbs up while mouthing 'thanks Sock Head. Have fun in Juvie.' As Eddy turned away, winked and then disappeared into his house, leaving Double D in the back of the cruiser, afraid and all alone._

* * *

Edd felt the bile rise even more, and bolted to the nearest stall, throwing up what little lunch he ate and stomach acid, almost missing the bowl. He emptied his stomach over and over until he couldn't even throw up acid anymore.

Wiping his mouth on the back of his hand, he moved back to the sink and stared into the mirror. He looked even worse than before. His skin had a green tint to it, his cheeks were shiny with sweat and his eyes were red. Edd splashed some more cold water on his face before replacing his beanie and checking the time.

It was 3:37. The final bell wasn't supposed to ring for another ten minutes but he couldn't bring himself to go back to class. He scooped his bag back up and went to his car. He reclined the driver's seat all the way back and turned on the radio.

He put all of his attention to the words of the songs, trying to lose himself in the music rather than stress over what was about to happen. Halfway through his fourth song, a loud buzz began to fill the parking lot. A mass of students began exiting the school, their voices all melting together to make one loud white noise in the air.

Edd fixed his chair and started his car, waiting anxiously for that mop of red hair to come into view. As the students began to leave, the parking lot became more and more empty, and yet there was still no sign of Kev. Edd turned off his car and leaned back, trying to ignore the feeling in the pit of his stomach. He waited another five minutes before pulling out his phone. He dialed Kev's number, only to get his voicemail.

"Greeting _Kevin,"_ He all but spit the name out. "It seems I'll have to depart from school _alone,_ seeing how you failed to meet me at my car. I apologize for bothering you so much with this. Had I known it would have been such a bother I never would have asked for you to accompany me. I do believe it would be best to keep your distance for a while. I would not want to do anything rash, like promise support, then abandon you." Edd knew, in the very back of his mind, that he was being too harsh, but if it weren't for Kev's promise of support, he never would have decided to go to the park in the first place.

He hit the end button and turned his car on, peeling away from the parking lot fast enough to leave marks on the asphalt and smoke in the air. He made it to the park in three minutes, a new record for anyone who bothered to time their trips to the park. He stopped his car and scanned the seemingly empty playground.

As he was about to pull away, Edd spotted two figures on one of the far benches. He pulled around and parked in the shade of some trees, making a point to leave his doors unlocked in case he needed to get out of there fast.

He made his way over to the figures, the feeling of bile once again rising in his throat. He knew his presence was unknown, and that he could easily turn around and leave, but something made him take those last three steps. He cleared his throat and waited.

The two figures, one short, the other much taller, spun around and stared at him. Edd could practically see the little gears turning in their heads,

"Well? You were the ones to summon me here, though poor Kevin no less. Now what do you want?" Edd's voice was positively frigid, his bangs caught under his beanie causing a dark shadow to cover the top half of his face.

Ed was the first to unfreeze. He jumped over the bench and all but tackled Edd, giving him a hug that would have crushed the young, weak Edd. But now he was stronger. Edd pried the other Ed of him and took a step back, brushing off imaginary dirt from his jacket.

Eddy was still sitting on the bench, eyes wide and jaw on the ground. In his head, he was trying to find some similarity, _something_ that made this person in front of him the same person that left three years ago. Both had an upturned button nose, and both had a slight gap between their front teeth, but past that there was nothing.

This new Double D was tall, almost as tall as Ed but with half the body mass. This new Double D was dark, wearing all black, like one of those punk emo kids from their old school. This new Double D had muscles running along his lanky arms, which were taunt in the efforts to pry Ed off. Worst of all, this new Double D looked like he hated the world, like he didn't want to be alive anymore.

Eddy's Double D was small and weak, smart but shy. Easily scared but endearing. This was _not_ his Double D.

"Must I repeat myself for you again?" Eddy was snapped out of his comparison. Edd's sharp tone cut Eddy's soul.

"W-we just came to see you Double Dork." The insult just flowed so naturally, he flinched at the harsh glare given by the boy in question.

"I informed you of my wishes, yet you disobeyed. I demand you leave this town at once and never return." Eddy finally stood from the bench and angrily stormed up to Edd, where he only came up to the other's shoulder.

"Listen here Sock Head. We drove for almost two days in my brother's shitty car just to see you, and this is how you repay me? I can't fuckin' believe it!" He threw his hands into the air in total exasperation.

" _Never call me that again."_ Edd all but growled out, his eyes burning with rage. Eddy actually found himself taking a step backwards. Ed was just standing there, watching though slightly unfocused eyes.

"Now, no need to get defensive Double D. We're all friends here." Eddy put his hands up in surrender.

Edd began to laugh, and the sound of it sent shivers down Eddy's spine. This was no carefree laugh. This laugh came straight from the bottom of his stomach, rasped it's way though his scratchy throat and ground out from between his teeth.

"You are not my friend. You never were my friend." Edd took a step forward, shoving his hands in his pockets. "You used me, took advantage of me, and when you could, used me to get out of trouble. It should have been _you_ who was taken away, but no. You threw me under the bus. I was only _fourteen years old Eddy._ Do you have any idea what they do to fourteen year olds in Juvenile Detention?" Eddy audibly gulped and shook his head. "Horrible, _horrible_ things. Look at me now Eddy. Take a good look at what I have become. This is all thanks to you."

Edd took his hands from his pockets and took hold of Eddy's collar, he could feel the wildness in his eyes, the insanity in his voice, and he liked it.

"Now, what do you have to say for yourself, _you fucking coward?"_ Eddy couldn't believe he just heard the F-bomb come from Double D's mouth. He felt his eyes begin to sting as he took the severity of Double D's words to heart. This scary, blackened version of his friend was all his fault.

"Double D-"

"My name is Edd. Not Double D. Not Sock Head. Not Double Dork. Just Edd."

"E-edd, look man. I'm…I'm sorry about what happened that day, okay?" Edd's fists tightened around Eddy's collar, cutting off his air. "T-this really is all my fault. I should have fessed up, I know that now. I wish I could do it all over again." Eddy was released, and he fell to his knees, trying to catch his breath.

"I don't" Eddy gave him a strange look.

"Don't what man?"

"Don't wish to do it over again. Because of this particular chair of events, I have met someone who I would willingly do anything for, despite him abandoning me." Edd's voice dropped to a hushed whisper by the end, willing his eyes not to betray him.

Edd turned away from Ed and Eddy.

"I never want to see you again Eddy. Stay out of this town, and stay out of my life." He took a step away before pausing and turning towards the largest of the three. "Ed, you deserve someone better than this scum. Go find a better life for yourself."

Without looking back, Edd walked to his car and peeled away, ignoring the cries following his departure. He went straight back to his house.

His empty, empty house.

He kicked the door open and went right to his room, throwing his bag on his bed, not bothering to pick up his phone as it fell from his bag into the floor. Edd went over to his dresser and calmly took out a small box, the kind Apple phones come in. He had taken the insides out in order to hide his most precious secret.

He opened the box to reveal a wide collection of blades. He picked the shiniest one and stripped off his jacket and shirt, leaving himself bare chested. Edd looked at himself in the full length mirror and cringed. His whole body was riddled in scars of every shape and sort, from knifes and razors and matches.

He took the razor in his left hand and held out his right wrist. With a steady hand Edd drew seven lines across his wrist. Seven long, but shallow cuts. As the blood bubbled to the surface, the cloud in his mind was still as thick as ever. They needed to be deeper, he concluded. He moved the blade to right under his elbow and pressed down.

Blood splattered down his arm, but it still wasn't deep enough to stop the screaming in his head. The conversation with Eddy played through his mind, the utter look of betrayal on Eddy's burned behind his eyelids for all eternity.

He moved to his torso, making long, deep cuts on his stomach. The blood came out hot, but by the time the waist band of his jeans soaked it up, it was already cooling.

Again and again he made those meticulous line across his body until he finally lost count. When his vision began to blur, that's when Edd began to slow down. He look in the mirror and felt sick to his stomach. He looked like a murder victim, blood dripping down every inch of his skin. He even somehow managed to get it on his face.

He could see the clear tracks where his tears had washed away the sticky redness. Edd hadn't realized he had been crying, but a simple touch to the cheek proved he was. He walked to the bathroom down the hall, not bothering to hide anything.

Edd started with his face, wiping it down and trying to stop the tears from overflowing with little success. He carefully wiped down his torso, flinching only slightly when the wet rag caught on the edge of the deepest cut. He prayed he wouldn't need stiches as he dipped the rag back into the sink to rinse it out.

He wiped down his arm last, not being particularly gentle with the drying blood covering the lacerations. He pulled out a container of bandages and began wrapping each and every cut. Edd lost himself to the rhythm of the motion, only noticing he was finished when he ran out of bandaging. After clearing away the last of the evidence, Edd numbly made his way back to his room and sat down on the bed.

Then the sobs hit. The cries racked his body, the shudders making the cuts on his stomach agitated. He could feel a migraine coming on, but could not find it in him to stop the tears. Suddenly, a loud ringing cut through his cries.

Edd crouched down to pick up his phone. Seeing Kev's number on the screen, Edd became furious, remembering the betrayal earlier, but something urged him to answer.

"What do you want?" Edd wanted to take the words back as soon as he said them, because not only were they shaking from his sobs, but because he never wanted to talk to his dear Kevin with such a tone.

A soft, labored breathing filled the other line for a moment before Kev spoke.

"Edd…please help me…" More pants, and what sounded like gagging. "Please oh god please." He sounded so helpless, so scared. Edd immidielty focused all his attention on Kev.

"Kev? Where are you?" He could feel the panic rising up in his throat.

"The library…." Edd knew exactly where. In that damned corner he was so fond of, where no one would ever know he was there. The other line when silent and Edd's heart skipped a beat.

"Kev? Kev stay awake!"

" _Hurry…."_ And then there was silence.

* * *

 **Well that was probably the longest chapter I have written ever. Almost thirteen pages. Wow.**

 **I'm sorry for how graphic this might seem to some, but I needed an outlet that wasn't myself, and I figured this would be the most efficient way.**

 **Thank you guys so much for reading, favoriting, following and reviewing!**

 **I have an idea of what going to happen next, but as always if anyone has any ideas or suggestions I would love to hear them.**

 **Until next time!**

 **~Starlight**


	6. Chapter 6

**I got four reviews in one day and I almost cried you guys are so amazing!**

 **I apologize for leaving it on such a cliff hanger, but it was almost 2 AM and I was dead tired. I'm not 100% sure how I want to wrap this all up, but at least I know what to do for this chapter. I doubt any chapter will be as long as the last.**

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Edd's heart was pounding out of his chest. His usually calm exterior was cracking, his breath coming more and more frantically. He threw on a shirt, not caring if it showed the bandages covering his arms. Grabbing his keys, he peeled out of his driveway, not bothering with a seatbelt or traffic laws. He braked hard in front of the school, letting the car idle in the fire lane.

He kicked the front door open and ran through the halls. He spared a single thought to thanking the heavens that most of the teachers had already gone home. If he were to be stopped, he wouldn't even think twice about letting fists fly in order to get away.

Edd burst into the Library, squinting into the dark. The librarian had left for the day, not bothering to check for straggling students before turning the lights out. Edd made a beeline for the corner of the room he knew Kev would be, not flinching when he rammed his shins into the tables and chairs in his rush.

He pulled his phone from his pocket and turned on the flashlight, and almost threw up.

Kev was huddled in a puddle of vomit, blood, and a white liquid Edd didn't want to think about. His pants were still around his ankles but he had tried pulling his shirt to cover himself. He was no longer crying, though shiny tracks were still fresh on his face. Edd dropped to his knees but couldn't bring himself to touch the trembling boy in front of him.

"Kev, oh god Kevin what happen to you?" His shaky whisper echoed through the silent library. Kev's tremble breath picked up and he began to weakly sob. Edd snapped out of his trance and pulled the small red head into his lap, stroking his face. Kev curled into his lap and clutched at his shirt, irritating the bandaging on his stomach.

Edd refused to flinch at the sudden pain and pulled Kev closer to him. He could feel the smaller boy trembling through the very core of his being.

"Kevin please I implore you. Please tell me what happened." Edd had concluded what had happened himself, but he was hoping that Kev would deny it. He prayed it wasn't what he thought it was. Kev's voice was soft and broken. Dead.

"Tony… it hurts… but now he'll leave me alone." He gave a faint smile, but flinched as the skin pulled on the redness left from his gag. Kev felt cold, shaking finger brush against the dried blood on his neck.

"Anthony did this to you?" Rage was building in Edd's heart and soul.

"Don't tell anyone… If I don't tell anyone, he'll leave me alone…" Edd knew Kev wasn't thinking clearly. He checked to see I Kev's eyes would dilate with the light on his phone and let out a colorful curse under his breath as the blackness only shrunk slightly. He must have some sort of minor head trauma, Edd realized. He had to think fast, so he did the first thing that came to mind.

Edd ripped the hem from his shirt and wrapped it around Kev's slender neck, hoping covering the wounds would stave off infection. He pulled Kev's pants up around his waist again, tearing up at the pained whimpers from his friend. As an afterthought, Edd gathered up Kev's stuff and slung the bag on his back as he carefully picked Kev up, carrying him with one arm supporting his knees and the other under his shoulders.

Edd walked as smoothly as possible, his gait slow and careful, but that didn't stop the redhead from whimpering whenever he was jostled. Edd kicked the door open again, this time without the rush or fanfair. As he approached his car, he stopped, not knowing how he would transport the injured boy in the vehicle.

"Kevin I need you to stay awake. I'm taking you to a hospital-" At the mention of the hospital, Kev gave the most reaction Edd had seen since getting to the school. His eyes shot open, and he looked so afraid. He tried to push Edd away, but weakly gave up when he realized he wasn't strong enough, just like he wasn't strong enough against _him._

"No hospital. Absolutely not." Kev shook his head despite the intense pain pounding through his skull. He would rather throw himself from the moving car than go to the hospital. "I would sooner throw myself from the car than go to the hospital."

"Kevin you are in urgent need of medical assistance. Please let me do this for you." Edd was trying to place the smaller boy – that much smaller, all curled up on himself in the passenger seat – without hurting him more.

"Edd please. Taking me to a hospital would be as bad as killing me." He seemed to be coming around more, but it didn't stop Edd from fretting to hell and back. Against his better judgment, Edd leaned his head on the steering wheel and sighed.

"Alright, but you are telling me everything that happened." Kev gave a pained nod and Edd pulled out carefully. He made sure not to take any sharp turns or fast stops. He drove right past Kev's rode and kept going straight.

"Edd, my house is the other way."

"I am aware Kev. We are going to my house. I will better be able to care for you there." Kev nodded and let his hang down. "Kev stay awake!" His head jerked back up and he tried to train his eyes on the road ahead of them.

Edd focused on driving and let himself think about how all this came about. It was only Wednesday, three days since the first meeting with Kev. In three days, his whole life was turned upside down. It scared him, how quickly the little red head found his way into his heart.

He snapped out of it as he pulled into his own driveway. He pulled in gently and came to a smooth stop, afraid to jostle Kev. He parked and walked around to the passenger side, opening the door and scooping Kev up in his arms. Using his hip, he closed the door and walked into the house. Edd never appreciated how he never locked the front door more than he did at that moment.

He took Kev straight up to his room, only to stop dead. His sheets were red, blood red, but with browning around the edges of the stain. He had completely forgot to clean up his mess. Muttering darkly under his breath, Edd moved to the closest bedroom, the one that would have been the guest room, had guests ever visited his home.

He laid Kev on top of the blanket and rushed to the bathroom to gather as much as he could carry. He grabbed all the bandages, creams and wound cleaners in the cabinet. He rushed back to the guest room and dumped all the first aid supplies on the ground by the bed. He rushed back to the bathroom and got a cup of water and a washcloth, being careful not to spill too much of it and still managing to make it back quickly.

Swallowing thickly, Edd began is examination. He started by removing Kev's shirt and the makeshift bandage around his neck. His torso was mostly clear, the day old bruises already turning yellow around the edges. Edd took the washcloth and dipped it in the water. He dabbed at Kev's neck and cringed when his freckled nose scrunched up in discomfort. He applies some Neosporin and used the larger Band-Aids to cover those.

He tried to rouse Kev from his half-coma, but realized it would be best to complete his examination without scarring the poor boy even more. Steeling himself, Edd removed Kev's pants and felt like throwing up yet again.

There were finger shaped bruises along his hips, blood stains turning his white briefs a sickly stained mess. Edd felt an involuntary shudder go through his spine as he dabbed the damp over Kev's sensitive skin.

Twenty painstakingly slow minutes later, Edd put the cloth in the bowl and went to his own dresser to pull out some clothes. He gently slid a fresh pair of boxers over Kev's slender hips, then an overly large pair of flannel sleep pants to cover the bruising on his lower half. Edd was thankful he never disposed of his favorite t-shirt, despite it being too small for himself.

After making sure Kev was settled in, covered by a blanket and sleeping peacefully, he left to place the bowl of dirty water in his sink. Grabbing a piece of lined paper, he jotted down a quick note before filling glass with water and dumping out three Advil into his hand.

Edd placed the note, glass and painkiller on the bedside table and went to his closet. He rummaged through some of his jackets before coming across the little rectangular box he was in desperate need of.

He left the house and sat on the back patio, pulling a cigarette from the half empty box, lighting it and taking a deep drag, reveling in the feeling of the smoke filling his lungs. It only took him four more drags to finish the cigarette. Just as he was about to lite another, he heard thumping coming from inside the house.

He placed the pack in his back pocket and went to face the music.

* * *

 **Kev's POV**

When Kev woke up, he had no clue where he was. His head was pounding and his hips felt like someone tried to pull them apart. He looked around, and noticed he wasn't anywhere familiar. The walls were a light blue, but were mostly covered in scientific posters. The bookshelves were filled to he brim with thick tomes and small figures.

Kev tried to sit up and almost fell out of the bed. The pain came in waves, causing him to almost throw up. He looked over to try to find a clock or something. Next to the alarm clock was a piece of paper with some pills on top and a glass of water. Kev brushed the pills onto the table and picked up the note.

 _Kev- You might be confused when you wake up, but do not fear. You are safe now, and I will not allow anything else happen to you. You will also be quit sore, so please take the painkillers I have provided. –Edd_

Kev smiled sadly and took the painkillers. He tried taking them all at once, but they caught in his throat. It took three swallows to get them all down. He laid back down on the bed and tried to remember what happened. He was in the library, waiting for Tony…

And then he was here? Kev could tell there was something missing from his memory. He had heard times when someone's mind erased itself to protect them from serious and emotional events. He suddenly got a flash of something. He was being slammed down.

Kev fell out of the bed, trying to escape his attacker. He slammed on the ground, wincing violently when the impact jostled his hips.

He worked his way back up onto the bed, and as he worked on calming his breathing the door opened. All Kev saw was a figure approaching him. He tried to cover his face with his hands, cowering away from the approaching form.

Kev gave a scream when a large hand landed on his shoulder, but realized it was a gentle touch. He cracked one eye open and saw a worried Edd though his tears. He unfurled and sat up, suddenly feeling safer with Edd close to him. Just as he was about to ask, Kev noticed something extremely worrying.

"Edd, why are your arms bandaged?"

* * *

 **Sorry for a shitty update and stuff. Things are going bad with me so I don't know how this is going to work out. After 60+ days clean…**

 **Welp a big thanks to everyone who reviwed and responded. You guys are amazing.**

 **Until next time**

 **~Starlight**


	7. Chapter 7

**Alright so this chapter goes into detail about why they're both so messed up. I put warnings at the beginning of each chapter, and this one touches on almost everything, so be warned.**

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"Edd, why are your arms bandaged?" Edd felt his stomach drop. His throat seized up and he tried to calm his heart beat enough to answer.

"Kev, I do believe you are slightly disoriented after what happened to you. I do believe it would be best if you stayed in bed and rested for a few days."

"Screw me!" Edd's eyes widened a fraction as images flashed across his mind, making him blush a little. "I'm more concerned about you right now."

Kev made to stand, but his vision swam and he fell back into the bed. Edd looked down at the small redhead and frowned, trying to figure out how to explain himself.

"Listen Kevin," He was very tired and let the full name slip put, but he didn't miss how Kev flinched. "There's a lot of explaining that needs to be done. Both of us have a lot of explaining to do, and I am hesitant to be the one to begin."

"Edd, what happened to me?" Edd sighed and sat on the edge of the bed, resting his head in his hands. He gathered his wits for a brief moment before lifting his head just high enough to have his chin in his hands.

"Anthony… did bad things to you, Kev. He…I have reason to believe he sexually abused you in the library. You lost consciousness before you could tell me anything, and it seems you have a case of slight amnesia. You suffered some mild head trauma." Edd could feel his eyes beginning to sting, but he gulped and forced himself to make eye contact with Kev.

"Not the first time…" It was obvious Kev hadn't meant to say it out loud, but Edd heard nonetheless.

"Not the first time?" Kev's face paled.

"I didn't say that."

"You didn't say it?"

"Say what?" Edd rose one eyebrow, unamused to say the least.

"Kev, what do you mean, 'not the first time'?" Kev sighed and leaned back against the pillows. He wrung the blanket in his fists and stared at the bed spread in front of him. He weighed the pros and cons of telling Edd in his head.

Pros, he would finally get it off his chest. Maybe Edd would understand. Maybe Edd would be able to help him.

Cons, maybe Edd would hate him. Maybe Edd would be disgusted with him. No one really cares about what happened…

"Kev, I'll go make something hot to drink while you gather your thoughts. I understand it must be difficult to put such things into words." Edd slipped out of the room and headed to the kitchen. He ignored the notes on the walls, the notes covering almost all open spaces.

The walls of the kitchen were covered in notes, like a second layer of wallpaper. Most of them were from his childhood that he brought with him from his old house. He put them up himself, to trick himself into thinking his parents actually cared.

One the counter, the completely clear counter, was one note. It was the last one they sent him. It was mostly covered by an unopened envelope. Edd knew what was in the envelope, which is exactly why he refused to open it. He refused to believe it was real.

He put on the tea kettle and pulled out two large mugs while waiting for the water to boil. He dug through the cabinet and pulled out what he was looking for. It wasn't anything fancy, but t was his favorite whenever he got worked up. It was a light tasting tea, hard to explain unless you've had it yourself. He brewed two cups and put a notable amount of extra sugar into one of the mugs, for Kev. The poor boy needed extra sugar in his system.

Carefully carrying the two hot mugs up to the guest room, he opened the door with his hip. He was unsurprised to see that Kev had barely moved from his spot on the bed. He had merely drew his legs up to his chest and moved against the backboard. Without a word, Edd handed the mug to Kev and sat cross legged on the bed in front of him.

Kev took a few tentative sips of his tea, and Edd was pleased to see some of the tension melt from his face. They sat in silence for maybe five minutes sipping tea and ignoring the thick air of the room and what was about to happen. Suddenly, Kev began.

"It started my eight grade year, but got really bad at the start of highschool. I tried really hard to fit in, to make friends. I found a group of people who I thought were my friends, but they were the farthest from that. I didn't realize it at first, but they were just using me. They began with little jabs, casually calling me fat, low-key calling me stupid. Part of me knew what they were doing, but a bigger part of me wanted them to like me. They always said my name like an insult. _Maybe you should skip lunch today_ Kevin. _Maybe you should start running laps_ Kevin. _If anyone was a cutter, it would be_ Kevin, _that dumb emo._ I began to hate my name.

"I began to skip meals, just to make them stop mentioning my baby fat. I started to become obsessed with my weight. We had a lesson on eating disorders in Health class, and although it was really vague, it was detailed enough for me to know exactly what to do. They began talking about kids who hurt themselves. They said "Kevin's the kind of kid who'd cut!" and I would just laugh along with them, but it gave me an idea.

"One night, we were in a group chat. It was maybe three or four months into the school year. They were being more outright with the insults. They took pictures from my Facebook and were editing them to be horrid jokes. I tried laughing along but I just cried. I cried and cried and cried, but I couldn't stop.

"Then I started laughing. I laughed and cried and laughed more. I knew I was getting hysterical, and that scared me. But what scared me the most was how much I liked the feeling of losing control. My parents were gone for the weekend. It was Friday night. I locked myself in the bathroom and let myself cry. I remember looking in the mirror and seeing a monster.

"This monster had red hair that stuck up in all directions and bright red eyes and a grin that could curdle milk." Kev gave a condescending chuckle and ran his hand through his hair, spiking it up to resemble the monster in his story. His took a few seconds to calm his breathing before opening his mouth again.

"It scared me, so I did the only thing I could think to do. I punched the mirror. I don't remember the impact, or why exactly I punched the mirror, but I do remember how clear my head felt after. I punch the mirror over and over again until there was no more glass left in the frame. My knuckles went past being broken, I knew that, but I didn't want the feeling to stop.

"I took the glass and cut my thigh, over and over, until the loss of blood made me want to throw up. It took me almost an hour to clean it all up. I'm pretty sure at one point I passed out for a few minutes. I can't really remember much. I remember taking toilet paper and doubling the layers and using the medical tape in the cabinet to tape it on as a makeshift bandage. I did the same with my knuckles, taping them enough for the pain to stop.

"That night was one of the best nights of sleep I've ever gotten. This all happened on Friday night, so I was able to sleep until almost three in the afternoon on Saturday. By the time I woke up, I saw my group chat had gone crazy. I answered the chat and made to go meet them at the local pizza place. I felt so clever getting dressed that day. I don't know _why_ I felt so clever, but I really thought I was being the smartest person in the world.

"I couldn't wear my usual tan pants, because the blood was still slowly seeping through the toilet paper. I wore my dark jeans and an oversized sweatshirt and some fingerless gloves, so no one would see the tape on my knuckles. When I got there they made fun of me for dressing like an emo, but it made me smile.

"From then on, they would make these dumb little comments, and I let them take over. They told me my hair was ugly, that I should wear some kind of hat. They told me a cap wasn't my style, that if I wanted to keep to the emo look I should get a beanie. I did. The commented on his skinny I was getting, so I bought a studded belt.

"At first it was to spite them, to get more of those comments that fueled my existence, but it started to become that I liked that style. I liked the dark jeans and the black long sleeves and the beanies. It was a win-win for me. I enjoyed dressing that way, and it gave me the drive to keep being the piece of scum I am.

"I never stopped the cutting either. I would either mentally or physically keep track of what they said to me, recording them all in this little black journal I bought. I would fill page after page with their comments. Each line on the page was another line on my wrist, my thigh, my stomach. I never tried to seek out help, because I never wanted it to end. I adored the rush I got when I almost bled out. I loved the feeling of self-loathing I got whenever I spent any time with those people. I began to abuse medication. I wouldn't care about the recommended amount, because it either gave me a high or made me numb. Everyone hated me, so why should I give a rat's ass about my safety?

"One night, it all became too much for me. Someone in a neighboring school had killed themselves over the weekend, and it caused a huge stir in my school. They had a whole assembly about suicide prevention and stuff, but it just gave _them_ more ammunition.

"They told me I should do it to, that everyone would be better off without me. They gave me horribly detailed ways to go through with it. I couldn't take it anymore. That night I went home and downed the Morphine my dad had for his back pains. There were only maybe five or six pills in the bottle, but I figured it would be enough. I tried writing a note, but I was already feeling sleepy. I vaguely remember calling my mom to say goodbye when I finally passed out.

"The next thing I remember after that was waking up in the hospital. They had pumped my stomach and tied my arms down to the bed. The doctors told me I was too unstable for visitors, so my parents were never allowed in." Kev could feel his breathing pick up, but he was determined to finish the story. He had never told anyone this much in this much detail, and he wanted to see it through to the end.

"They treated me… horribly. They treated us all horribly. The doctors, they tied us down, threw cold water on us instead of letting us shower. The medication was haphazard, the nurses giving us whatever was closest, not caring about proper amounts or what the side effects were. Sometimes the reactions were so bad, the kids would die. I had horrible hallucinations one time, because I had seven different types of medication in my system at one time.

"The worst part, though, was how the doctors used us. It was one doctor in particular if I can remember correctly. All the boys were put in one ward, and every night a different one of us was tied down even tighter. You knew it was your turn when the doctor tied your ankles to opposite side of the bed and closed the curtains. Thankfully he only got to me once, and I was so drugged I don't remember any of it. I only know this because I was told everything was over.

"I probably would have dies there if the FBI didn't come in and shut the whole hospital down. I was transferred out and spent a month in a better hospital. I was released a month before my junior year. I worked my hardest to make a new start. All the boys in that original group of friends were expelled for trying to get me to kill myself. I made myself into the kind of person I wanted to be. Smart, a little nerdy. I openly embraced my khakis and sweater vests again. I put away all my beanies and black jeans. I wanted to forget it ever happened.

"Then I met you." Kev finished his story in a whisper, not daring to look up at Edd, who hadn't made a sound the entire time he was talking.

The silence stretch on longer and longer, and Kev felt the tears he had been holding back threaten to fall. He knew it would be a mistake to ever tell anyone. He should have kept it a secret. He should have kept it until the grave.

"I-I'm sorry Edd. Forget I said anything-"

"I was put in the back of the cop car without any inkling of a struggle." Kev looked up quickly and saw Edd's face was shadowed by his hat. He was looking down at his lap, watching his hands wrestle each other rather than looking at the kid in front of him. Kev let his thought drift away, afraid if he said anything it would stop Edd from sharing his story.

"I didn't want to put up a fight. Obviously the officer knew what was best for me, so I went along willingly. I only felt rage for a split second, when I saw Eddy mouth something at me. _Thanks Sockhead. Have fun in Juvie_ he told me. He knew what was to befall poor little Eddward, but he did nothing to stop it. I was scared, most definitely. And I was mad, but not at Eddy. At myself. I was the one who made the miscalculation. I was the one at fault for the injuries of my childhood friends. I was the only one to blame.

"Now, if you knew me before I was sent away, you would understand instantly why I was targeted my very first day in that god forsaken place. I was scrawny, hunched over with insecurities. Baggy shorts and an oversized orange shirt. My hat, or course, but I always wore it covering my eyebrows, like I was hiding behind it." He gave a dark chuckle. "I guess in a sense I _was_ hiding. A gap between my teeth and quivering knees… I was a deer in the headlights.

"I was targeted, as I said, but in more physical ways. It was not bad in the beginning. A little trip here, and little spit ball there. Then it got more intense, being shoved against walls when the warden wasn't looking, being force fed the wrong medications by those who didn't want to take it themselves. Everything changed when they found out _why_ I was locked up. Why an innocent little kid like myself was stuck in jail with these criminals.

"Things got even worse. They would taunt me, calling me a psychopath, accusing me of doing I all on purpose. The taunting got worse and worse. They would beat me senseless, leaving the guards to wonder why I was always limping. One day, after maybe a month of my torment, I snapped. I threw punches right back, cursed them just as harshly. I made threats, and I intended on keeping them if my life depended on it. Of course, they didn't believe me. At first. But someone else overheard my little tirade.

"His name was James. He was older than me by maybe two or three years. He had a group of boys that patrolled the halls. They didn't really have a name, but everyone knew to watch out for them. The only people afraid of him, however, were those who thought it fun to mess with the weaker. He was a vigilante of sorts. He told me he never noticed anything between me and those messing with me, but the way I stood up to them inspired him.

"He took me under his metaphorical wing, helped me grow stronger and tougher. Within the next month, I grew in height as well as muscle. He taught me all the tricks there was to teach. He snuck me extra food so I could grow taller. He snuck me into the gym after hours to give me extra time to strengthen my muscles.

"Before I knew it, I was his second in command. The others in the group, four other boys of varying ages, didn't question it. They had seen my transformation from a dweeb to a cold machine, and knew I wouldn't hesitate to take them out as well. We cleaned up the boys' wing of Juvie, and even started weeding out the girls' wing, all the while James and I grew closer and closer. So close, in fact, I came to the conclusion I was gay. We trained at night, but also sometimes showed each other different sides of us. It was bliss in hell, but it didn't last long.

"It was the May before I was release, three days before James' 18th birthday. We all knew when he turned 18 he would be tried again and sent to real prison. What he did was inexcusable, but he felt he had no other choice. See, he had a sister who was around my age at the time. She was being sexually assaulted by her boyfriend, and one time he went too far, killing her in the process. In a rage, James beat the boy to death. Since there were no witnesses, he was tried for murder and sent to Juvie until he was of legal age to be tried as an adult.

"It was three days before he was to be tried for the murder, and he had been quite all day. He didn't make his usual jokes and refused to eat anything. All day he had a brooding expression on his face, and he wouldn't talk to anyone. During our free block, he came over to me and handed me a slip of paper and told me to wait until dinner to read it. Walking over to the door, he asked the warden to return to his cell. I heard him say something about a headache, which would explain why he looked like he was in pain. The warden escorted him, leaving me and the others in the common area. Now they were fine with just leaving him on his own, not too concerned about our leader, but I had a bad feeling. I couldn't identify the feeling for several minutes. By the time I realized, it was too late.

"It was the same feeling I had the moment before the scam crashed down. I rushed to his cell, not bothering to slow down when the guards threatened to Taser me. I threw open the door and threw up.

"There he was, hanging from the ceiling. He had taken his pillow case and ripped it into strips. Tying them together made the perfect rope for a noose. He had passed away several minutes before I had made it to his cell - that much was obvious. I'll never forget the way his eyes bulged or the sickly shade of purple in his face.

"Suffocation. They said he suffocated to death instead of having his neck snapped. He struggled for a few moments - that much was clear. There were claw marks around his neck here his hands acted of their own accord and tried to remove the rope from around this throat.

"They took me away. I must have been hysterical, for they used a needle to subdue me. When I woke up, I was tied to my bed, and all the staff seemed to be afraid of me. They made me see a psychologist every day, twice a day. They wanted information on why James would do this to himself rather than how I was feeling, which I didn't mind. I didn't want to talk to them anyway. Back in my cell, I found the slip of paper in my pocket.

"My hands were shaking when I opened it, but by the time I finished, I was completely still. It was a note, his last thoughts. _Don't let them go back to their old habits._ I knew he meant the assholes who picked on the weak. _I know what they'll do to me if I'm tried, and I can't handle that. I couldn't have asked for a better right hand, but there's one thing I wish I could have changed about you. Don't be so cold all the time. I know you're capable of love, so show it. Don't miss me. I'm finally where I belong._

"And he was gone, just like that. I didn't go to his funeral. I just couldn't face his family, watch them bury their only remaining child. I was released a few weeks after that incident, and my parents sent me straight to this town. I didn't even make it back to my childhood home. When I arrived, boxes of my things were already piled in the rooms. It was clear from the start they never intended of coming to live with me.

"While I was unpacking, I found my bag of toiletries had been crushed, by shaving cream smeared all over everything, my toothpaste exploded. My razor shattered. While I was trying to clean up the mess, I accidentally sliced my thumb on one of the lose blades. Instantly, I was brought back to one of my night with James, where he showed me the lines on his arms. He told me how it helped him cope with the feelings.

"Quickly, though, the feeling of having him near faded. I never wanted to feel apart from him again, so I cut again. I just wanted to feel close to him, to feel something. I did it again and again, day after day, just to feel. It turned from wanting to feel close to James to just wanting to feel. My world turned grey. Then I started at this school. Things didn't get better, per say, but they didn't get worse. The grey turned into a milky color." He finally looked Kev in the eyes.

"Then I met you. Suddenly my world had color again. With James, it was red and purple. With you… there'd red and blue and gold and green. I never thought I could see in color again, but here I am, looking at your hair, and your eyes, and the blush on your cheeks." A tear slid down his face, landing on his hand. He quickly brushed another away. He chuckled again, but this one was more broken than bitter.

"Edd…"

"Look at me, getting all poetic. It's been years since I wrote any poetry…" Kev reached out and took Edd's hand, easing it away from his other hand. He watched the color return to the skin as they sat in more silence. The air was heavy, almost impossible to breath.

"I…my arms are because I had to face Eddy alone." Kev gasped sharply.

"It's my fault?" his voice was weak, almost not there.

"What? No! Kev, you're the one who should be blaming me!" Edd took his hand from Kev's and ripped off his hat, running his fingers through his hair anxiously. "If I had gone to look for you, I might have been able to stop this from happening in the first place." Silence again.

"Let's agree we both messed up." Kev gave a light smile, one that would fool anyone else into thinking he was okay.

"Yes. We did, didn't we?"

* * *

 **Alright this isn't as long as I thought it was going to be, but I started getting the feeling that my style was going down the shitter the longer I went. I'm also in the middle of doing my History midterm, so it's a little sloppy.**

 **I don't have time to carefully read through this, but hopefully it's fairly typo-free.**

 **This might be the last chapter. If there is another, it's going to be a short, wrap-up sort of thing. I'd like to say thanks to everyone who cared to follow and favorite. All the support means so much to me.**

 **Until next time**

 **Starlight**


	8. Chapter 8

They sat in silence, but it wasn't uncomfortable. It was the perfect kind of silence, and neither of them wanted to break it. Finally, it was Edd that broke it, with a deep chuckle. He laughed without much humor and sighed, placing his head in his hands.

"What are you going to do about Anthony?" Edd knew already what Kevin was planning on doing, but he didn't like it.

"Nothing… the school won't believe me, especially since it would be against the school's top athlete. And what if it gets out to the s-students? They'll never let me hear the end of it…" Kevin knew what kids were like, especially in their school. He would be mocked, beaten, maybe even raped again, who knows what they would do to him.

"You are aware that I cannot allow you to live with this without getting revenge on Anthony for hurting you, correct?" Edd lifted his head and looked at the redhead, who glanced away and nodded, smiling sadly at the blanket covering his legs.

"Yeah… I figured that's what you were going to do. .."

"Well, since you know what I am going to do anyway, what are _you_ going to do about this?"

"I don't know…" Kevin honestly didn't know what he was going to do. If he went to the school, nothing would happen. If he went to cops, he would be interrogated and ignored. If he went right to Anthony, he would be actually killed.

"Hmmmm…." Edd didn't responds, but simply looked at Kevin. The smaller started feeling strange, having Edd stare at him, so he tried to stand up only to have such intense pain in his hips that he fell back into the bed again.

"Arrgghh!" The sound that came out of Kevin's mouth wasn't very human. Edd put a hand on the redhead's shoulder and made him lay down completely.

"Rest, please. I have to make a phone call, but when I get back I'll make us something to eat." It wasn't a question, and Kevin knew he had no say against what Edd had planned, so he just nodded and closed his eyes. He didn't realize how tired he was until he did so, and almost fell asleep instantly. Edd stood and grabbed his phone from the nightstand before leaving.

* * *

"Glad to hear you made it out in one piece Jacob." Edd let himself smile into the phone. It only took ten minutes to track down his group from Juvie. Out of the original seven, three were dead – including James – and two were still in Jail. The other two were released and were living within a hundred miles of Edd.

"Glad to hear you weren't sent back to Juvie Eddy boy!" Jacob laughed from the other end. Edd didn't realize how much he missed Jacob.

"Not without temptation, my dear friend…" He trailed off suddenly, his tone darkening. "That's actually why I called you." Jacob heard the change in tone instantly.

"What happened?" Jacob wanted the whole story, but Edd wasn't sure if he wanted to tell the whole story three separate times.

"Can you get Nathan on the line as well? I do not know if I can tell this story several times."

"Glad to see you defrosted, Ice King." Jacob said sarcastically, but there was a rustling on the other line before he came back. "Okay, I'm going to hang up and get him on the line."

Edd grunted in acknowledgement and hung up. While he waited for the call back, he listened to the birds in the birds singing. It was strange, listening to such a peaceful moment after how crazy the previous day was. Edd let himself relax and try to forget what was about to be planned while he could. His moment lasted only a few minutes, because in no time at all his phone was buzzing again.

"Let's get to the point." Although Edd kind of wanted to catch up with his friends, but this moment was crucial. "A dear, dear friend of mine was horribly attacked. I need to bring this asshole some sweet revenge, but if I do this alone I will be sent back for murder."

"When and where Edd? I'll be there." Nat was ready.

"At least give us the whole story Edd." Jacob, however, was not.

"Fine. Kevin was being bullied at school, which ended with him being violently raped in the library and left to be found by teachers days after. If I had not found him, he would have laid there until Sunday at the earliest. His wounds are extreme and he is still bedridden. I am going to hunt down the man who did this to him and destroy him." He finished with a growl so deep it would have curdled blood. The other lines were silent for a moment.

"We're in. Send us the address." Edd grinned darkly and relayed the information to his friends. This was going to be a fun.

!

By the time Kevin woke up, there was a lot of noise downstairs. Pots and pans clashing, voices going from whispers to shouts. He sat up groggily and checked his phone, and almost threw it across the room when he saw what time it was. He had been sleeping for almost twelve hours? That means it was Saturday evening, right?

He tried sitting up again and was happy to find he wasn't in as much pain. Swinging his legs over the edge of the bed, Kevin eased himself up. His legs were a little shaky, but the pain was manageable. Besides, his stomach was growling so hard he would have crawled to the kitchen if he wasn't able to stand.

He inched his way down the stairs, putting one foot on each step before descending down another. It took him an insanely long amount of time to reach the bottom of the stairs, but since he had gone so slow and quietly, no one in the kitchen noticed him.

There was someone new in the kitchen. He was tall and lanky, much like Edd himself. His hair was dyed teal, but his brown roots starting to show already. He had a wide grin and an eyebrow piercing. Kev thought he was very handsome.

Kev wasn't watching where he was going and stubbed his toe into the door frame, yelping loudly and drawing the attention of Edd and his guest. They stared at Kev, and Kev tried hard not to make eye contact for too long. Before Kev could say anything, the one with the teal hair rushed forward and scooped him into a hug. Kev's wounds were jostled, but he was too shocked to make any sounds of pain.

"Oh geez Edd! You never told us he was such a cutie!" He placed Kev back onto the ground and quickly had to steady the injured redhead.

"Nathan, if you could refrain from hurting Kev any further, it would be much appreciated." Edd said cooly from where he was leaning up against the sink. Nathan, as Edd called him, took a step back with a sheepish grin.

"Sorry Edd, but look at him! I could just-" Suddenly there was a fork sticking out of the wall about a foot from Nathan's head. they turned to Edd, whose hand was still outstretched. Nathan chuckled nervously and put his hands up in surrender. "You know what? Never mind that last thought there. Man, you're just as good at that as you were last time I saw you."

"I'm Nat by the way." Nathan put his hand out for Kev to shake. "I tried forever to get Edd to call me by my nickname, but he refused…" He hesitated and furrowed his brows. "But he calls you Kev… How curious." His smile curled into a Cheshire grin and Kev quickly moved away.

"Kev, you should be in bed."

"Um… I w-was hungry…." Kev felt awkward around strangers. He wished he could just go back to sleep but he really did need to eat. Edd looked at him with wide eyes for a moment before slapping the palm of his hand to his forehead. Nat gave him a weird look but Edd ignored him.

"Of course you are. I am sorry Kev. Allow me to make you something." Edd moved to the fridge and began pulling out ingredients while looks were being exchanged behind his back. Kev watch amazed as Edd moved gracefully through the kitchen, pulling out pans and food, like he was born to do it. Kev shook his head a little. That was silly, the thought to himself.

"Are you going to make me something Edd?" Nat smoozed his way next to Edd and gave him a wide smile. Edd met his smile with a sneer.

"Get your own food. There's the fridge. Help yourself." Edd turned back to Kev's food and Nat slunk over to the fridge.

"Still so cold…" Nat murmured under his breath as he opened the fridge.

Just then, the doorbell rang. Kev, who was standing by the doorframe of the kitchen, automatically went to answer it. There, on the other side of the door, was another guy around his age. He was as tall as Edd, but was muscular. The sides of his head were shaved, leaving just the middle handing down a little. He had a big grin that only grew bigger when he saw who answered the door. Letting himself in, he went to shake Kev's hand.

"I'm Jake. I've heard a lot about you."

"Kev." The redhead shook Jake's hand, his own hand eaten by the larger appendage of the other boy. Kev never realized how small his hands were until he met Edd's friends.

"Hey! Jake finally made it!" Nat's voice rang through the house. He laughed and threw himself at the newcomer. They collided and slammed each other on the back.

"Alright gentlemen." Edd walked out of the kitchen with a plate and a glass. He handed the food to Kev and ushered the other too back into the kitchen. "Go upstairs and eat. Please do not put more stress than necessary on your body. We have… things to discuss. I would suggest not coming down until I come for you."

"Um… alright Edd." Kev took the plate and the cup and headed up the stairs. He really was curious about what they were going to talk about, but knew better than to go against Edd. Besides, he was tired again.

* * *

As soon as Edd was sure Kev was safely up the stairs, he turned to his gathered friends and sighed. They were sitting at the table, so Edd leaned up against the counter again.

"Now that we are all here, we must discuss our course of action."

"I say we kick his ass!" Nat slammed his fist onto the table. Jake raised his eyebrow at him.

"Oh yeah Nat. Let's get sent back to jail. That's a great idea!"

"I actually have an idea." Edd quickly stepped in between the fight that was sure to break out between the two. Both looked at him expectantly. "Kev does not want to report this incident to the school, for he fears Anthony would find out and attack him again. If we can bring evidence, and protect him, he might be able to survive this endeavor."

"Alright but how do we play into this? Can't you keep an eye on your boyfriend yourself?" Jake leaned back in his chair and looked directly into Edd's eyes. The Ice King's face lit up red and his usually cool eyes widened.

"B-boyfriend? N-no that's not-"

"Cut the crap Edd." Nat grinned at Edd, enjoying watching him fall apart. "We know, and we're happy for you."

"He's not my boyfriend." Edd sounded resigned.

"Do you want him to be?"

"…Yes, but courting him after such events would be a very bad idea." Edd closed his eyes and gathered his composure. Nat and Jake had to agree that it wouldn't be a good idea to push a relationship with Kev at the moment.

"It's a real shame…" The kitchen went silent for another moment.

"So here's the plan…"

* * *

"He is still asleep, and I am willing to guess he will stay asleep through this. The sleeping pills I crushed up into his dinner are supposed to keep a grown man down for at least eight hours." Edd moved into the room with arms full of bandages.

"You drugged him?" Nat asked, one eyebrow almost lost in the bangs that hung over his forehead. He was holding a camera in one hand and more bandaging in the other.

"I needed him to rest, and Kev is too stubborn to stay resting on his own." Edd placed the bandaging on the edge of the bed and clicked on the bedside lamp. The warm light was bright enough for their purposes but not bright enough to make the redhead stir.

Edd started undoing Kev's old bandaging and waved to get Nat to come close. Both gasped as they saw the extent of the damage. Nat steeled his nerves and began taking pictures of the bruising and scratches, as well as the fading bruise along his ribs.

The whole process took about twenty minutes, but they had almost one hundred pictures to use as evidence. As Nat left the room, Edd paused at the foot of the bed. He moved, going to sit next to Kev's shoulder. Edd thought to himself, Kev looks so young when he's asleep. The redhead stirred and Edd quickly stood and left the room.

* * *

"Um… W-why are you coming to school with us?" Kev adjusted the strap of his backpack, in better shape than he was at the beginning of the weekend. The extra Monday off gave him more time to recover. Edd had driven Kev home to pick some things up but refused to let the smaller student stay home alone.

"Cuz we're bored." Nat blew a bubble with his gum and tried to make it as big as possible before it popped and stuck to him nose. Kev shot him an unbelieving look but didn't push it. Spending the last two and half day with them, Kev learned not to questions the things they did.

The four of them walked to Edd's car, the back seat now cleared out for the newcomers. Edd felt weird driving a whole carful. He was used to it being just himself, and maybe Kev. Over the weekend, Jake – bless his hacker soul – managed to break into the school's data bases and enrolled Nat and himself as seniors. He managed to make sure at least one of them was in Kev's class at all times. They hoped no one would call them out on it, but it only had to last a week or two. Then their information would be erased from the system.

They pulled into the parking lot and sat in the car for a moment, gathering their thoughts.

"You okay sweetpea?" Nat placed a concerned hand on Kev's shoulder, causing him to flinch away.

"Y-yeah… just a little nervous." Kev didn't miss the exchange of looks, but didn't know Edd already filled the other two in on what happened so he quickly tried to cover up his mistake. "Nervous for a test! Oh yeah we have a big test in my robotics class…" He laughed awkwardly and opened the car door.

"Well I'll see you guys at lunch I guess!" Kev waved once before awkwardly pulling his hand from the air and speed walking away, peeking behind him every once in a while. Edd and his two friends watched Kev walked away with faint smiles.

"I can see why you want to protect him." Jake turned from the retreating boy and checked his phone.

"If you didn't have dibs I would totally snag him up myself." Nat laughed at his own joke, but didn't miss the look Edd shot him.

"Come along. The next few days are going to be very interesting." Edd locked his car and started towards the school, not waiting for the other two to follow. Soon, two sets of footsteps followed behind Edd.

* * *

"I would like to welcome a new student today. It was very last minute… I wasn't told until this morning actually. Anyway, if someone could get Nathan here the notes, it would make my job much easier." Kev's biology teacher wasn't a bad teacher, just frazzled. She was seven months pregnant, and it was staring to make her a little scatter brained.

Nat turned to the class and shot a glimmering smile to the students. Kev heard a few gasps, and knew if this was his first time meeting Nat as well, he probably would have gasped along with them. Nat really was attractive, but not his type. The taller teen make eye contact with the ginger and his award winning smile turned into a shit eating grin before moving to sit next to him. A few sounds of disappointment came from around the room, but Nat didn't notice.

"What are the odds pumpkin? Us being stuck in the same class like this." He grinned and watched Kev rummage through his backpack.

"Here are the notes, if you wanted to copy them but…"

"But what, chickadee?" Nat's grinned widened. Boy he loved to tease Kev. The redhead's face turned the same shade as his hair as he stuttered a little.

"I um, w-wasn't sure if y-you would w-want to do all that extra work."

"Why thank you dearling. You're so nice to me… be careful, or I might just fall for you." Nat wiggled his eyebrows as he stuck Kev's notebook in his bag. Kev's face, somehow, turned slightly more purple than red. Nat chuckled and turned his attention to the teacher. He just had to wait five more hours before shit got real.

* * *

"We have a new student joining our little robotics class!" Kev's eyes nearly bugged out of his head. How had Jake and Nat manage to get into every one of his classes? This was the fourth class of the day, and Nat had been in three, Jake in two including the robotics class.

"Hey. I'm Jake. I've been tinkering with robotics since I was about five, but my old school never offered any classes." He smiled warmly, so different from Nat's cocky grin. One of the student's started to ask a question, but the teacher cut them off, saying there was too much work to be done and that they could talk to him after class.

Class went by smoothly for Kev, so he wasn't sure why he felt growing dread in his stomach. By the time the bell rang, he was bouncing his foot and clicking his pen. Jake nudged him at the bell and Kev quickly jumped up from his chair. His stomach growled, reminding him that lunch was next. He usually didn't eat lunch at school, preferring to get work done during the free period, but today he was starving.

"Hey Kev. Want to walk to the cafeteria with me? I still don't really know my way around." Jake asked Kev, efficiently cutting off the student from the beginning of class that tried to ask a question. Kev gave them an apologetic look and led the way.

"So the cafeteria is kind of hard to miss. It's the biggest area in the school next to the gym. I usually skip lunch to finish work, so I don't know if there will be seats…" Kev trailed off. Jake gave him a once over and thought that maybe he shouldn't be skipping meals anymore, with how skinny he was already.

They made it to the lunchroom just in time. They slipped into the lunch line right as the room flooded with people. The line was almost out the door, but thankfully Kev and Jake managed to snag their meals and get out of the masses.

Kev looked around, hoping to find a nice empty corner, when he caught teal out of the corner of his eye. Nat saw him and waved, calling them over.

"Where are your lunches?" Is the first thing Kev asked when he sat down. Neither Edd nor Nat had food in front of them.

"We were waiting for the line to go down. Wanted to make sure we snagged a table before they all filled up." Nat leaned back on his chair, almost tipping over. Edd smirked a little at his friend, and Kev couldn't help but think he looked quite handsome when he smiled.

Lunch went smoothly. After Edd and Nat managed to get their lunch, the period was filled with casual conversation, until Nat suggested playing a questions game. To get to know each other, he had said.

"Kev." It was Jake's turn. "How in the world did you get Edd to use your nickname?" Kev stopped mid bite and slowly put his sandwich back onto the Styrofoam tray. Edd gave the redhead a concerned look but Kev felt he could trust these people, at least a little.

"I, um… had some bad experiences and having people use my full name makes me think of that, so I told him about it and he respects it and wants me to be comfortable…" The table went silent for a second while Kev thought of a question for his turn. "Edd? Why do you always wear that beanie?"

Edd blinked at Kev, almost owlishly, and put his fork down. With a swift motion, he took off his beanie and bent his head down a little. On the left side of his head was a large scar, about three inches long. Kev couldn't help but give a small gasp. Edd smirked a little and put his hat back on.

"Back when I was a kid, well you guys know about all the scams I was a part of. Anyway, one of them went wrong, but thankfully I was the only one injured. It was several years before the one that send me to jail. I was in the hospital for almost a month, but thankfully the concussion wasn't so horrific that it interfered with my intellect."

Kev was shocked. He had no idea that Edd's childhood was so dangerous. He wanted to know about all the scams he was a part of, all the stories Edd had of his child hood. Kev caught his train of thought and blushed lightly. He turned his head away to look at anything but Edd's confused face. As he turned away, he made eye contact with the last person he wanted to.

Tony was sitting maybe four tables away. The two locked eyes, and Tony's grin tuned feral. He put one finger up to his lips and winked at Kev. The redhead felt like he was going to throw up. In fact, he knew he was going to.

Sprinting to the bathroom, ignoring the calls after him, Kev ran to the bathroom and into the nearest stall. He barely made it into the stall before throwing up what he managed to eat. He wasn't hungry at all anymore.

A hand landed on his shoulder, causing Kev to jump and slam his head into the rim of the toilet. He faintly heard voices through the ringing in his ears.

"Kev? Holy fuck are you okay?"

"Kev, please try to breath."

"Woah watch his head."

The three of them surrounded Kev, trying to give their own forms of comfort as Kev shook violently.

"I-I'm f-f-fine." Kev finally stopped throwing up enough to wipe his mouth and get his friends to back off.

"You're not fine!" Nat was petting his head, his red bangs being smushed down.

"It's nothing… just some bad food."

"Kev, you should know by not that I will not stand for lies, especially from you. " Edd stood and walked out of the stall. It was getting really crowded.

"I saw Tony…" Kev spit into the toilet, wishing he had some water or something to wash his mouth out with. Edd clenched his hands into fists and let out a shaky breath.

"I'm going to kill that bastard." Edd growled out, and his tone caused Kev to shiver in fear. Jake went over to Edd and Placed a hand on his arm, gripping it tightly.

"Remember the plan." Jake said close to Edd's ear, trying to calm him down.

"What plan?" Kev managed to stand completely and walk out of the stall with Nat just in time to hear that sentence. Edd turned away from the mirror and faced Kev. The taller gave a small smile and ruffled Kev's head.

"Do not worry about it Kev. We have it all under control." Edd was the first to leave the bathroom, but waited outside of the door for the other three. They made their way back to the table, Jake keeping Kev's attention away from the looks the other two were giving the athlete at the other table.

Despite being away from each other for several months, Edd and Nat still had the perfect intimidation faces. It was the look they would give the guys at Juvie that were causing trouble. It was the kind of look with the wide grins that held zero joy and the crazy eyes that cause your blood to run cold and the shadows covering the tops of their faces to make it all seem even more demonic. Tony's face went from smug to deathly white as Edd and Nat sat down.

After that, the lunch period went smoothly. Kev managed to eat a few more bites at the insistence of Jake. As they left the cafeteria, Edd, Jake and Nat formed a wall around Kev, one on either side and one behind. They were looking around, but somehow Kev didn't notice anything was off, which Edd was thankful for.

The four of them headed to English, the only class the four managed to get together. As they walked and bantered, Kev was lost in thought. He had never had anyone to walk with him to class before. He was always the one that walked alone in the halls. This was… this felt amazing, to have friends to walk with you… Kev was overwhelmed.

They entered class the same way any group of three ruffians and a nerd would enter a room. Loud, rambunctious, and late. The teacher glared at them before she realized who they were. Poor little Kev, silent but always on time Edd, and the two new students she was told about literally five minutes after making it to work that morning.

"Erm, we have two new students today, Nathan and Jacob." They waved respectively and the class gave a monotone greeting as if they were in an AA meeting. The teacher awkwardly rummaged through her bag and pulled out a pile of papers. Passing out the papers, she started to explain the daily activity.

It was like the last one, where the students were to get into groups and read the paragraphs, and discuss the questions on the second page. Since the four of them were already in a group, she didn't see any point in breaking them up.

As usual, the teacher let the students do their own thing as she messed around on her computer. Kev's group did very little work, but did a lot of talking.

"Hey Kev." Jake looked up from his phone. Little did the redhead know, the other three were texting each other at that moment, working out the final touches to their plan. "It's been a while since I've worked out. Could you show me the weight room after school?"

"Oh sure Jake, but what about Edd and Nat?" Kev looked up from his questions, because he was actually answering them for a grade, unlike the rest of the class.

"Eh don't worry about us." Nat was trying to balance his chair on two legs, and was wobbling dangerously. "I have a problem with my schedule so Edd's gonna show me to the office after school. We can all meet up after and go get ice cream."

"And how are you planning on paying for this ice cream?" Edd raised an eyebrow as he watched the teal haired boy almost fall completely over. The chair legs screeched along the tiling floors, causing half the class to look back at them.

"Well, I snagged some extra dough from my mom before booking it out here, and I think today is the perfect time for a celebration." He grinned and rested his head on the desk.

"Why would we celebrate today?" Kev was confused. Was there something happening today?

"Our first day of school sweetcheeks!" Nat gave Kev a thumbs up, ignoring the texts on his phone yelling at him for almost letting Kev know something was up. Kev just laughed and nodded, going back to his work. The trio gave an inaudible sigh of relief and went back to talking.

* * *

When the last bell of the day rang, the two groups went their separate ways, Kev and Jake heading towards the gym while Nat and Edd went to the office. Just as they were about to leave, Jake gave Nat and Edd a nod. The plan was in action.

Edd opened the door to the office and went directly to the secretary, Nat close behind. Both had dropped their smiles.

"Hello. My name is Eddward. I have an appointment with the principle." Edd said in his smooth voice. The secretary nodded and called the principal's office, making sure he was still there. She waved them in, and they paused at the door.

"Come on dude. We have to do this."

"I know Nathan… I just worry about the repercussions." Edd whispered before finally opening the door. The principle was an older man, with greying hair and a goatee. He had taken off his jacket during the day, and had the sleeves of his dress shirt rolled up.

"Welcome boys. Come, sit. Tell me what the issue is." Mr. Boarden said, gesturing towards the two seats in front of the desk. Edd and Nat took his suggestion and sat, neither of them sitting all the way back.

"We have some… rather disturbing news." Edd nodded to Nat, who pulled a folder from his bag. Mr. Boarden's eye brows raised and his friendly smile fell.

"That doesn't sound good." He leaned back in his desk chair and folded his hands. "Please, continue."

"On Friday evening, after school, one of your students was violently raped in the library." Edd didn't want to tip toe around the subject. He had learned in the past that avoiding the dangerous topics lead to the outcome being understated. Mr. Boarden was sitting up straight now, his palms flat on the desk.

"That's a dangerous accusation Mr. Vincent. You better have some evidence to back that up." He sounded grave. Edd smiled bitterly and handed him the folder as he began his story.

"I had left to handle a personal event, and Kevin Barr was to accompany me. When he did not meet me, I figured he just went home, so I left. I received a call from him, hours later. He was crying, could barely form a full sentence. I rushed back to the school, afraid of what I would find. I knew where he was, in the library in that far corner. The whole library was dark, the librarian had obviously left for the day, without checking for stray students, I may add.

"I found Kev curled up on the ground, trying to cover himself with a ripped shirt. His trousers were ripped and around his ankles. He was covered in red and white, and if you don't know what I'm implying, I would be more than willing to give a more direct description." Edd made eye contact with Mr. Boarden, who had gone white as snow. He just shook his head and waved his hand, telling Edd to continue his story. He had flipped through most of the pictures and felt his lunch about to come back up.

"He could not speak in full sentences. His hips and neck were covered in bruises, his neck openly bleeding from bite marks. When I asked him what happened hoe simply told me he was 'free'. I asked him from what, but he didn't want to say. After much pushing, I found out that it was Anthony Person that did this. According to Kev, Anthony promised to leave him alone if he promised not to breathe a word of the encounter to anyone.

"Kev passed out, and I took him back to my house. He refused to go to the hospital, for personal reasons, so I treated him myself. There were wounds around his wrists, hips, back, neck and shoulders, as you saw in the pictures, along with self-harm scars along his wrists and stomach due to bullying from Anthony. He forced Kev to complete all of his assignments, threatening to hurt him even more if he refused to comply. I was lucky enough to be able to help him with the work, and after the incident. Otherwise, he would have been all alone…" Edd's voice trailed off sadly, falling into his own thoughts. Mr. Boarden cleared his throat and rubbed a hand over his face.

"There _are_ some serious accusations, but with this evidence I don't see any way this could be a joke… I just don't know what the school board is going to do about this… You, you can go boys, but expect to be called down several times in the coming week."

"Thank you sir, for believing us. I am afraid I would have had to go to drastic measures to ensure Kev's safety." Edd said with complete seriousness. Mr. Boarden's face paled even more as he showed the two boys the door.

"Have a good evening boys" He closed the office door, leaving the two in the hall. Nat turned to Edd and grinned.

"Well that went well."

"Yes, I suppose it could have gone worse." Edd replied with a grin of his own. He pulled out his phone and send a text to Jake. Within minutes, he got a text back.

 _No sign of A. Heading to the car now. –J_

"Everything went smoothly. Let us meet at the car." Edd slipped his phone into the back pocket of his jeans and grinned at Nat again. Nat laughed out loud and jumped onto Edd, wrapping an arm around Edd's shoulders in that way boys do when they're having fun.

Even Edd let out a laugh, the weight on his chest lifting a little at a time. It felt good to laugh, Edd thought as he did it again.

"Man… it's been forever since I heard you laugh…" Nat's smile faded as he stared into the distance. "You know… we were all afraid for you after the… James thing. We thought, we thought we were going to lose you too. You guys were always so close, and after he- well, I'm glad to see you smiling again. I think Kev's a big part of it, so I'm happy to be helping him in any way I can." Nat stopped walking and turned to face Edd.

Even though Nat was shorter, Edd was slouching slightly. Nat slipped his hand into Edd's and sighed. Leaning in close, Nat placed a soft kiss to Edd's cheek. He pulled away, just an inch, before pulling away completely. With his smile back in place, Nat laughed once and turned away again, his usual pep back in his step.

Edd stopped walking in shock, not sure what just happened. He never thought Nat could have feelings like that for him… He thought back to his time at Juvie.

 _Nat sat next to Edd, picking food off his tray with a fork and a lazy grin._

 _Nat falling asleep in Edd's dorm and leaning up against the taller teen._

 _Nat only ever opening up to Edd, not even telling James his deepest feelings._

 _The look on Nat's eye when he first caught Edd with James._

 _The look he gave Edd when he realized James had killed himself…_

Edd blinked back to the present with a heavy heart. He picked up his step to catch up with Nat, who had made it to the end of the hallways while he was daydreaming.

Nat watched Edd from the corner of his eye, and although he wouldn't even admit it to himself, he was proud that he managed to fluster the Ice King, even just a little. He kicked open the front doors of the school and hopped down the front steps two at a time. He made it to the car before Edd even made it down the stairs.

"Hey there Kev!" Nat ran over and high fived Jake, who was sitting on the roof of the car. Kev was sitting on the hood, looking at something on his phone. He looked up and smiled brightly as the sight of the other two members of their group.

"Hey Nat! Did you fix your schedule?"

"Yep! They wrote me down for two classes at once. We cleared it up nice and pretty. Have fun working out?" He said sarcastically, grinning wolfishly at Jake.

"I ran on the treadmill for about twenty minutes before getting bored and messing around on the yoga balls with Kev. We learned some seriously deep things about each other on those partially deflated yoga balls." Jake stared into the distance dramatically, but could only hold his straight face for a moment before chuckling. He turned his head to Edd. "Any more… complications in the future?" The meaning was clear to the three.

"Most likely. Computers can mess up quite easily. I would suspect being called down a few times to work out any… bugs." Edd examined his finger nails and nonchalantly shrugged his shoulders before climbing into the driver's seat of the car. "Load in everyone. Nat owes us ice cream." He grinned wide, and Kev felt his heart skip a beat. He sat in the passenger seat, but could barely hear the sarcastic comments from Nat over his own heartbeat. Kev really, really hoped his face wasn't as red as he felt it was.

* * *

Kev was lying awake in the guest room at Edd's. He had planned on going home after ice cream, but Edd had convinced him to stay a few more days. His reasoning? Edd needed someone to keep Nat and Jake in line until they settled down a little more.

He grinned at the ceiling at the thought. He was needed. Edd needed _him_. He giggled and buried his face in the pillow.

Kev thought back to the day and felt his smile falter. Today was… perfect. But perfect things never last. Spending time with Nat and Jake and Edd, like friends… it was like he was normal. He never wanted them to leave. Selfish of him, he knew, but he needed this.

"I wonder…" Kev climbed out of the bed and wrapped the blanket around his shoulders before creeping out of the room. He skipped the stairs he knew would squeak and made his way to the living room. Jake was sprawled across the couch and Nat was in the recliner, his jaw open and snoring gently. Kev felt a stab of guilt for taking up the guest room while they slept in the living room, but Edd had convinced him after he rearranged his "parent's" room, there would be plenty of space for everyone. Kev wasn't sure how long Edd would make him stay.

"Psst Nat? Nat…" Kev reached out and shook his shoulder, causing him to jerk awake with a snort.

"Kev?" He slurred, rubbing his eyes sleepily. "What time is it?""

"Um, about three in the morning." Kev fixed the blanket that was slipping off his shoulders. Nat yawned and sat up.

"What's wrong babe?" Nat reached over and pulled Kev into his lap, like a father would with a child who woke up with a nightmare.

"I, um, couldn't sleep."

"Yeah I know how that goes." Nat yawned again and sat back. "You can stay with me sweetpea. I've always found it's easier to fall asleep with someone in your arms."

"Nat? When are you going to leave?" Kev mentally smacked himself. He could have worded that a little smoother. He felt tears building up at the thought of his friends leaving.

"Woah there kiddo. We're not going anywhere anytime soon. We just got here! Besides, it would be so much work to transfer schools again." Nat grinned at Kev in the darkness, his words only helping a little to calm his nerves.

"I just… It's been so long since I've had any real friends… and I can't stand the thought of losing you guys." That did it. Kev sobbed quietly and quickly tried to wipe away the tears. Nat woke up completely and wrapped his arms around the smaller teen.

"You're not going to lose us pumpkin." Nat spoke a little louder, trying to wake Jake up. It worked, the sleeping teen jerking awake and sleepily looked around trying to figure out what woke him up. When he heard the crying, he sat up completely, placing his feet flat on the carpeting.

"Kev?" Jake's voice was deep with sleep, but held concern for his wellbeing. Was Kev hurt? Did something happen? Nat got Kev to stand and brought him over to the couch, sitting the redhead in between himself and Jake.

"We're right here, see? We're not going anywhere, not even Edd." Nat rubbed Kev's back, helping his breathing return to normal. None of them knew the fourth was listening at the top of the stairs. He had heard Kev leave his room and needed to make sure he was okay. He didn't expect what he heard though. Why did he come to me? Edd thought to himself as he listened to his best friends comfort the boy he may love.

"What's the point of making friends when they're all going to leave you?" Kev's tears had slowed, but his voice was still shaky.

"Because when you meet the right people, they never really leave. Look at us and Edd. We met in the worst situation, but we're still thick as thieves."

"Yeah, you guys do seem pretty close…" Kev agreed, but he doubted he would ever be as close to them as Edd is.

"And we're pretty close, aren't we cutie?" Nat ruffled his hair until Kev had to cave and laugh along with him.

"Yeah… I guess." Kev couldn't help but smile.

"I guess? _I guess?_ I'm hurt dollface! Here I thought we were best friends!" Nat pretended to wipe away a tear before grinning at Kev, who couldn't hold a straight face.

"Alright fine! We're best friends."

"Hey what about me?" Jake poked Kev's cheek and pouted.

"You too. You're both my best friends." Kev grinned widely, his fears from before all but forgotten.

"Good. Now that that's settled, let's get back to sleep." Jake pulled his blanket so it covered all their laps and laid his head back on the couch. Kev rested his head on Nat's shoulder, and Nat rested his head on Kev's.

Kev hadn't been able to fall asleep so quickly in weeks.

Edd smiled and returned to his own room. At least Kev was safe, and he became such good friends with Nat and Jake. Kev needed more support in his life, Edd thought to himself as he laid back down in his bed. He fell asleep thinking of red hair and freckles.

* * *

The tension in the air was thick enough to suffocate Kev, but he didn't know what was wrong. There were more cops around the school, which normally wouldn't bother Kev, but the officers were looking wary of the students, which struck him as odd.

Tony was called to the office during first period, over the loud speaker. That also struck Kev as odd. Usually the secretary called the individual classrooms. The class erupted into whispers, but the teacher quickly silenced them with a quick glare and a cough.

Kev noticed Jake pull his phone out and send a text, the third thing that stuck Kev as odd. Jake was always so attentive in class. Kev never saw him text in class, except in English where no one pays attention.

There were no more interruptions until his robotics class. Kev's teacher answered the phone, and his easy going smile dropped by the inch as he listened to whoever was talking. His eyes darted to where Kev was sitting and paled.

He took the phone into the hallway, almost closing the door all the way. The class was silent, no one really sure what was going on, least of all Kev. When the teacher came back into the room, he looked like he had just been given the worst news in the world.

"Um, Kevin and Nathan, please go see Mr. Boarden…" He wrote the two of them passes but refused to say what was wrong.

"Are we in trouble?" Kev was tearing up. He had never been in trouble before, except that one detention he got last week. His record was perfect…

"Nah. We haven't done anything wrong sweetcheeks. It takes me at least a full week before I can get into any real trouble." Nat flashed his best smile, hoping to calm the redhead but saw it really wasn't working.

They made it to the office, but Kev's nerves weren't calmed when the secretary's face fell at the sight of him.

"Right this way Mr. Barr." She pointed the two of them to the principal's office. They followed her direction and hesitated outside the door. Kev knocked gently and opened the door when he heard a faint 'come in' from behind the door.

Opening the door, Kev was shocked to see Edd and Jake already there. The principle looked like he hadn't slept at all that night.

"Good morning Mr. Boarden." Kev greeted him quietly. He just nodded in greeting before motioning Kev to sit.

"So Kevin, I've heard some… unsettling things from your friends here. I need to ask you a few questions to make sure everything runs smoothly. So please, I ask you answer as truthfully and as accurately as possible." By this point, Kev had a sinking feeling he knew what this was about, and he would rather be beaten than answer the questions that were sure to come his way in the next few minutes. He felt sick to his stomach, but nodded anyway.

"W-what's w-wrong?"

"What happened Friday after school in the library Mr. Barr?"

Silence. Kev could feel his breath catching in his throat. His vision began to blur with the effort of trying to breath. A strong hand came down on his back, giving him something to focus on. He glanced to the side and saw that Edd had sat in the empty chair next to him. Edd smiled at Kev and nodded in encouragement.

"Um… I-I erm, I was in the library a-and, and I w-was just m-minding my own b-business. I w-was w-w-waiting for someone to, um, well, m-meet me so I could g-give them- them some work? And um…" Kev was shaking violently, tears splashing on his hands as they fell from his flushed cheeks. This was so not what he wanted to talk about. Ever.

"Please continue Mr. Barr."

"He um, well he w-was there and he, erm, he-he f-f-forced me to…" The images were coming back fast now, the flashbacks making him want to throw up.

"It is alright Kev. Please, just breathe and continue. It will be taken care of soon, I promise." Edd whispered soothingly into Kev's ear.

"Who was there Mr. Barr?" Mr. Boarden made sure to speak softly, as to not upset Kev further.

"I can't say." Kev whispered.

"Kevin, you have to tell me or else nothing can happen to fix this." Mr. Boarden was getting a little impatience. After spending the morning with Tony, he was at his wits end.

"He'll h-hurt me if I tell." Kev started crying harder. He knocked his glasses off in an attempt to wipe his face. Nat bent down to pick them up and held onto them for Kev, who was in no position to hold something breakable. Edd reached over and took Kev's hand.

"No he won't. You have me, and Nat and Jake to protect you. We aren't going anywhere."

"It was Tony… Tony r-r-raped me…" Kev barely choked the word out.

"Can you describe what he did to you?" Boarden felt bad, pushing Kevin like this, but he needed to make sure the stories added up.

"He, um…. Gagged me. And, um, r-ripped my pants… H-he just- just… oh god." Kev started hyperventilating, and the edges of his vision started to blur. His hand was squeezed, and he managed to look over to see Edd. He managed to get his breathing under control after a few moments and continued. "He just… no prep or anything. It h-hurt so badly… there was b-blood running d-down my legs, but he didn't s-stop… He told me, as l-long as I keep my m-mouth shut he would leave me alone…I don't want to be hurt anymore…"

Boarden stopped writing to look up at the sobbing child. He felt his heart break at the sight. No one should ever have to go through something like that, least of all someone so small. Kevin's story matched up with Edd's and the wounds in the pictures, which means Anthony was lying when he was brought in that morning.

He sighed, knowing this meant a lot of paperwork, news coverage, maybe even an assembly… sometimes he hated being principle.

"Alright. Thank you Kevin. I know it was hard to talk about something so scarring, but it was very brave of you. You four may return to class, or you may rest in the nurse's office for a little while. If you wish to leave school early, just remember to sign yourself out at the main desk." The four students thanked him and left the office, Kevin being supported by Edd.

"It's okay Kev. It's over. Tony's gonna be sent to jail, and we'll be here to protect you." Nat hugged Kev, trying to calm his shaking.

"Hey Kev. Do you want to get some food? Or go back to class?" Jake asked in a calm voice, trying to distract Kev.

"Um, let me go to the bathroom. Then we can go back to class." It was clear Kev was going to throw up, so the trio rushed him to the nearest bathroom. There were only three stalls in the boy's room, and the two smaller ones were occupied. The handicapped stall was the only one open.

Kev rushed to the last stall and slammed the door shut. There was a moment of silence before a scream rang through the bathroom. Immediately Edd, Nat and Jake were ready to run to Kev, but the two stall doors were thrown open and two guys walked out of each.

"Anthony's cronies, I would presume." Edd smiled bitterly and cracked his knuckles. Another scream, and the trio launched themselves. Three on four? Edd remembered when the odds were even worse.

Kev was cowering in the far corner of the stall. Somehow he didn't noticed Tony in the stall with him until it was too late. The tall blonde gave a bloodthirsty grin and cracked his neck.

"Long time no see, fag. I thought we had an agreement." He took a step towards Kev, who screamed in fear and tried to scramble away. Tony stepped on Kev's ankle, pinning him to the ground. "But it looks like you went and tattled on me... I think you need to be punished."

Kev turned to the side and threw up, splattering the toilet with his breakfast. Tony sneered in disgust and kicked Kev in the ribs. Kev cried out in pain, but was met with grunts and groans from outside the stall. Edd must be putting up one hell of a fight, Kev thought. It made him smile a little, to think of his friends fighting for him. His smile was quickly wiped away when he came face to face with the barrel of a shot gun.

"Y-you wouldn't…" Kev's heart skipped several beats. In fact, Kev thought his heart had stopped completely in fear.

"I'm going to jail anyway… might as well get revenge while I still can!" Tony laughed manically and turned off the safety.

"Why d-do you even have a gun!" Kev was desperately trying to buy time.

"I always carry it in my bag. Back home, I never know when I'm going to need to defend myself… I never leave home without it." Tony's eyes gleamed crazily, and Kev realized this really was the end for him. He deflated and closed his eyes.

Kev just really hoped it would be quick.

There was a bang, and Kev cried out. But there wasn't any pain? He cracked one eye open and saw Edd wrestling Tony to the ground of the stall and the gun being picked up by a bleeding Jake. Kev scrambled up, almost falling over. Nat caught him at the last second.

Nat carried Kev from the bathroom stall, where the four cronies were lying unconscious in a heap in the corner. Nat sat Kev down gently and began checking for injuries.

"Looks like a bruised ribs and a sprained ankle, but other than that you're okay." Nat's voice had never been so grim, and Kev didn't think the tone suited him.

Edd and Jake worked together to carry a now unconscious Tony from the handicapped stall, both sporting new wounds. Edd's nose was obviously broken and still gushing blood. There was a gash on his right arm, which was drenching his jacket. One of the cronies had a knife, Nat said to him quietly. Edd's lower lip was also split pretty badly.

Jake's eye was already swelling, and he was missing at least one tooth. There was a cut on his cheek that ran from his ear to the corner of his mouth, but he was smiling anyway.

Nat wasn't as bad, but he was still bleeding pretty heavily. There was a large cut on the side of his head, probably from someone bashing it into a sink. His cheek was going to bruise pretty bad and he was bleeding heavily from a gash on his stomach.

"You're all hurt…" Was the only thing that came out of Kev's mouth. The three just stared at him for what seemed like hours before all bursting out laughing.

"This? Oh we've had worse in a tussle between ourselves." Nat grinned at Kev, the swelling in his cheek more obvious. There was a commotion outside of the bathroom, and Edd threw himself in front of Kev. It was all a blur at first, but soon Kev realize they were cops, not more cronies.

The cops removed Tony and his friends first, getting them up on stretches and cuffing them. Then they focused on Kev and friends.

More stretches were called in, but all four refused them. They were led to an ambulance in the parking lot, where they were treated. Edd's nose had to be set and the gash on Nat's chest needed stitches, but both opted to have the injuries treated there, without painkillers.

As one was being treated, cops were questioning the other three. There was no end to the questions, and soon Kev felt himself drifting off to sleep. They were finally allowed to go as the sun was setting. Edd, sporting a new bandage on his face and his arm wrapped up nice and tight, Jake, with an ice pack on his eye, a bandage on his cheek and a grin, and Nat, also with an ice pack and a bandaged chest and head.

Kev himself had his chest bound again, to support his bruised rib, and a wrapped ankle. Edd wouldn't let Kev walk on his own, even though the redhead tried to convince them he was fine. Out of the four of them, Kev really was the most unharmed.

The car ride back to Edd's house was silent. The walk into Edd's house was silent. The time it took to get inside and sit in the living room was spent in silence. Edd went into the kitchen to make something to drink, something hot to calm everyone's nerves.

As soon as Kev sat down in a familiar setting, with familiar people, he finally reacted. It started with a quiet hiccup, but it quickly developed into complete sobs. Nat and Jake tried their hardest to calm him down, but the situation was finally hitting Kev fully, and he was just too overwhelmed.

Edd rushed in, leaving the drink in the kitchen. As he ran to Kev, Jake took the initiative and went into the kitchen to finish the drinks. Edd wrapped his arms around Kev, letting the smaller teen cry into his chest.

"It is okay Kev. You are safe now. You are with friends. Nothing can hurt you now. You are safe. It is okay. You are safe.' Edd just kept repeating himself as Kev sobbed into his chest.

"Thanks Edd…" Kev finally calmed down, sniffling and wiping his face. He pulled back a little, but not out of Edd's arms.

"I would do anything for you Kev… Hearing you scream? That was one of the scariest moments in my whole life."

"What? Edd, what about-?"

"Even scarier than that. The thought of losing you… it killed me." Edd swooped in and kissed Kev on the lips, gently because of his own split lip as well as how fragile the other was.

"Edd!" Kev pulled away in shock, but didn't push the taller away completely. His face was bright red, but so was Edd's, so it was an even compromise. What broke the moment was Nat wolf whistling loudly from across the room. Both jumped apart and sat on the couch, a foot away from the other.

Jake reentered with the mugs, both unaware but able to connect the dots on what just happened. Handing off the mugs, Jake sat in the recliner as Nat sat on the ground. Kev moved closer to Edd, who watched warily from the corner of his eye.

"Thank you Edd. For everything." Kev smiled brightly and leaned in to kiss the corner of Edd's mouth. Edd just blushed again and stared at the redhead with shock. Kev giggled and turned to whatever show Jake decided to put on.

This was perfect, Kev thought. Everyone together like this, safe at last and together. He looked around and couldn't help but smile, despite what just happened to them. He never wanted this to go away. Nat saw the weird look on his face and frowned.

"Is everything alright babe?" Nat raised an eyebrow at Kev, who blinked and smiled.

"Yeah… just thinking."

"About what Kev?" Edd asked.

"About how perfect everything is."

"You were almost killed Kev." Jake said with concern.

"Yeah, but now? Now everything is perfect." Kev smiled at everyone, who couldn't help but smile back. Yeah, Kev thought. Perfect.

* * *

 **Wow, it's been a crazy ride. This is the final chapter of** **Hidden Angel** **and it's over 10k words, and one of my favorite things I've ever written.**

 **Jake is an OC from a personal story I'm writing. I actually didn't have a name for him in my story for the longest time. I switched between half a dozen names, but I really think I like Jake the most.**

 **Thank you everyone who supported this story. It was hard sometimes, and I know I'm an ass for updating almost every day then ignoring it for months….**

 **It's sad to see this end, but also relieving. Now I can focus on my other two stories,** **Love Yourself** **and** **Purify the Timelines** **, which are both Undertale stories.**

 **Until next time!  
~Starlight**


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